From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Poreč (Croatian pronunciation: [ˈpɔrɛtʃ]; Italian: Parenzo; Venetian: Parenso; Latin: Parens or Parentium; Ancient Greek: Πάρενθος, romanized: Párenthos) is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, west Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The town is almost 2,000 years old, and is set around a harbour protected from the sea by the small island of Sveti Nikola/San Nicola (Saint Nicholas). Its population of approximately 12,000 resides mostly on the outskirts, while the wider Poreč area has a population of approximately 16,600 inhabitants. The municipal area covers 142 square kilometres (55 sq mi), with the 37 kilometres (23 miles) long shoreline stretching from the Mirna River near Novigrad (Cittanova) to Funtana (Fontane) and Vrsar (Orsera) in the south. Ever since the 1970s, the coast of Poreč and neighboring Rovinj (Rovigno) has been the most visited tourist destination in Croatia.