SOME BEAUTIFUL RUINS AND THE SMALL TRAIN STATION ON THE EDGE OF TOWN

My favorite weekend (and any day) activity is driving and hiking around in search of something interesting to photograph and post about.

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Some weekends ago, on Sunday 25th of September this year, I drove about forty-fifty kilometers north of my hometown. I visited the remains of an abandoned medieval town called Dvigrad ...

... and the small train station on the outskirts of Kanfanar, the nearby village that is still active.

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In written sources, Dvigrad was first mentioned in the 9th century ...

... but damaged buildings that can be seen today date mostly from the 13th and the 14th century.

When Dvigrad was abandoned due to wars and epidemics in the 17th century, the small village of Kanfanar grew into what was a small town back then. Now is considered a village again. You won't see the village here, only the train station about a kilometer from its center.

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The train station was built in 1876, three years after the railroad was introduced in Istra, the peninsula on which I live. I parked the car in the area behind the elegant old building typical for the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy esthetics ...

... and passed through the small gate in between the station and the very small building built in the same style. These are the toilets.

The building is old but its interior is brand new, well-equipped, shiny, and clean.

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I photographed the rails in front of the station ...

... and then ...

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... it was time to enter the building.

I passed through the waiting room that looks a bit like the interior of a simple, third-class train carriage ...

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... and entered the small room with the ticket office. The office was closed. The morning light coming through the blinds created a very photogenic atmosphere.

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A friend was there with me so she sat on the bench to add the human element to the empty interior.

Soon we were outside again.

I photographed the rails from a different, more dramatic angle, and then we walked back to the car parked behind the station.

I took one last look at the windows with their old wooden blinds before driving away.

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After a short drive, some minutes later and about two or three kilometers further ...

... we reached Dvigrad. Here you can see the best-preserved tower of the medieval fortification, one of the most memorable elements of the abandoned town. I took this photograph through the shrubs to get a bit of depth and some plants to decorate the foreground.

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These berries fell from one of those shrubs.

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The ruins in the lower part of Dvigrad, I mean, the remains of the buildings a bit further from the top of the hill, are covered with lush growths of ivy and some other plants.

As the sun was slowly rising and the fairly cold morning was getting warmer, the lizards started to appear from the crevices of the ancient walls.

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Algyroides nigropunctatus is the name of this Mediterranean species from the Lacertidae family.

In this photograph, I zoomed in on the vegetation near the top of the hill because my attention got caught by the vivid color of one of the trees there.

A bit later I was able to take a better, more up-close look at the fruits responsible for that intense color.

But that came later, so ...

... let's continue in chronological order.

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The photogenic building shown in this photograph was photographed on the way uphill.

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This is the top of the hill ...

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... and the beautiful remains of The Church of St. Sophia.

I entered the roofless building ...

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... and I started exploring the architectural elements through the lens of my camera. This minimalist circle made of stones and the sky was very inspiring.

Closer to the corner of the room, the shadow added another layer to the composition.

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The columns looked great in a wide shot from a lower angle.

The church was built in several stages over the centuries, changing its appearance along the way.

The church first appeared as an early Christian piece of architecture from the 5th century. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the church went through some changes, and the church tower was added.

The final version of St. Sophia probably dates from the 13th century. Although some experts think that the last stage happened earlier. In the 11th or 12th century.

Once outside the church, or more precisely what remains of the church, on the plateau in front of it, I came across another lizard.

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Another Algyroides nigropunctatus was sunbathing on the warm stones of the ruins.

I had a nice view from the top of the hill. Here you can see part of another medieval building in the foreground and the more recent viaduct in the distance. In the following photograph ...

... I zoomed in a bit more. The viaduct was built in 1991.

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At one point a Shell truck passed through the scene adding a bit of complementary yellow to the blue atmosphere of the shot.

The red berries I showed you earlier in the post were also photographed here, on the top of the hill, not far from the church.

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These are the fruits of the Pistacia terebinthus tree.

The combination of red ripe ones and the green, unripe ones looks pretty cool. The shades of red and green of these fruits are very stylish and relatively rare in the plants of this area.

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On some leaves, the insect activity has caused a reaction that ended up forming these colorful formations which, in my opinion, add even more decorative value to the tree.

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This photograph was taken on the way down, back to the car.

Soon I passed through the gate in what remains of the defensive wall ...

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... and stopped by the ivy that grew on one of the outer ruins ...

... because I saw this pretty big wasp. The European hornet (Vespa crabro).

AND THAT'S IT. THIS LITTLE WEEKEND TRIP ENDS HERE. AS ALWAYS IN THESE POSTS ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK.