Labin: The Mining Town and Europe's First Anti-Fascist Revolution
Labin (Italian: Albona) is a medieval town in eastern Istria, Croatia, only 3 kilometres from the Adriatic coast, perched on a 320-metre hill overlooking the coastal resort of Rabac. The town has 5,806 inhabitants (2021 census) and the municipality 10,424. Its name derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *alb- meaning "height" or "hill."
History The Roman settlement of Albona was successively occupied by Vandals, Ostrogoths, the Byzantine Empire, and the Patriarchate of Aquileia. From 1420 to 1797 it was under the Republic of Venice, which left its mark on the architecture of the upper town. After Napoleon, it belonged to the Austrian Empire and, from 1918, to the Kingdom of Italy. The most celebrated event in Labin's modern history is the Labin Republic (March–April 1921): coal miners, protesting against working conditions and the rise of fascism, took control of the mines for 43 days, proclaimed an autonomous republic, and organised their own government. Historians regard it as the world's first anti-fascist uprising. Coal mining in the area lasted nearly 400 years; at its peak during the Second World War, 1,158,000 tonnes were produced annually and more than 10,000 miners were employed. The last mine closed in 1999.
Heritage and culture The upper town preserves the St Flora Gate (1589) with the Lion of St Mark, the Church of St Stephen (1336, with six marble altars), the baroque Battiala-Lazzarini palazzo (18th century, now a museum with a replica coal mine gallery), and the Renaissance loggia. Labin was the birthplace of Lutheran reformer Matthias Flacius Illyricus (1520–1575), whose birth house can be visited. A sculpture park and numerous art galleries enliven the upper town in summer.
Points of interest: - Population: 5,806 (town, 2021); 10,424 (municipality). - Distances: 6 km from Rabac beach, 40 km south of Poreč. - Getting there: Pula Airport (40 km south-west); regular bus from Pula.