Hiking trail Zelengrad - Malenica
The hiking trail Old Town (Zelengrad) starts in Grdoselo (8 km north of Pazin), at the parish church of the Name of Mary. It is marked with various types of markers and signs. The first part of the trail is marked with red and white hiking markers because it is part of the Pazin Hiking Trail, which leads from Pazin to the top of Učka and to Ćićarija. The second part of the trail, which leads from the Old Town back to Grdoselo through the canyon of the Grdoselo stream, is marked with yellow-green hiking markers. The first part of the trail is accessible all year round, while the second part is not recommended during the rainy season due to slippery paths and multiple crossings of the stream.
This excursion is best started with the historical facts of this area, specifically in front of the Name of Mary church. It houses the Grdoselo fragment from the 12th century, one of the oldest Croatian Glagolitic monuments. It was found in the ruins of the church of Saint Anne, which was one of the three churches of the Old Town, today an abandoned settlement, the former Grdoselo. The first church at the current location was built by the parish priest of Grdoselo, Vicenzo Pikot, in 1680. He was also the initiator of the oldest written church chronicle of this area, in which events from the life of the parish related to the construction of this church and the eventual relocation of the settlement (and name!) to its current position are described in detail. His tombstone is embedded in the wall at the entrance to the church, with the coat of arms of the Žminj-Pazin noble family Segher von Weissenhaus. This family had a house and property in the nearby Katun Grdoselski and mills on Pazinčica, and donated the current Baroque altar to this church, which was previously used in Žminj.
Trail description
From the village church, we go downhill through the village in a northerly direction and after 250 m we come to an crossroads with the European nettle tree. The asphalt turns left towards the cemetery, and we continue in a northerly direction, along a sharp downhill on the road, we pass a double "S" bendage and at the first next bendage we leave the road and continue through the pine forest to the northeast. After 200 m, the path descends steeply over eroded flysch and descends into the valley to a small stream. You cross the stream and cross the hayfield onto the road leading up the hill in a northerly direction. Soon we come to a marked intersection, where we leave the Pazin`s mountain road and turn left. Immediately after the turn, ten meters off the road, on the right, stood the church of St. Anne, and today its position is marked with a stone marker. At the place where the road opens into the clearing where the hunting post is located, the place where the parish church of St. James was located is marked in the same way. If we look at the edges of the forest surrounding the meadow from the checkpoint, we will notice that on the northern side of the meadow there is a passage marked with markings, so we move across the meadow towards it. There we enter the forest path that takes us all the way to Zelengrad. Immediately before the fort, a third church is marked on the left - the church of St. John the Baptist.
Stari grad or Zelengrad (86 m) was a fort with a trapezoidal floor plan located on a steep guard position, on a hill below which the stream flows into the Butoniga stream. It was first mentioned in 1102, and it is also mentioned in the Istrian Divorce, a well-known Glagolitic legal document from the beginning of the 14 th century. As the owner of the castle in 1278, Henrik Grdoselski, a vassal of Gorica Count Albert II, is mentioned. The medieval settlement extended further to the top of the hill towards the south, where the remains of buildings are still visible in the grove. The settlement had as many as three churches: St. Anna, St. John the Baptist and the parish church of St. James. After the Uskok War (1615 - 1618), the inhabitants moved to the neighboring hamlet of Brdo, today's Grdoselo, where in 1680 the parish church of the Name of Mary`s was built, until 1805. the function of the old parish church of St. Jacob. The positions of all three churches that do not exist today are marked with stone markers. From Zelengrad, a path descends to the Butoniga stream (52 m) and a lake with a waterfall called “Črni puč”, which is visible from the castle in the east. As that part of the trail is steeper, it is also not recommended for slippery conditions.
To return from Zelengrad to Grdoselo, it is best to use the path that follows Grdoselo`s stream (not signed!) upstream and crosses it several times (caution: not recommended during rainfall). The path will lead us to the Malenica spring, which is associated with a legend that its water is beneficial for the eyes because it comes from the direction of the Beram sanctuary of the Mother of God at Škriljinah.
To return to Grdoselo, a shorter trail can be used - a marked hiking trail ((GPX)
