MATERIJALNA BAŠTINA ANTIFAŠIZMA U JUŽNOJ ISTRI KAO TEMELJ RAZVOJA MEMORIJALNOG TURIZMA.

This paper analyses the spatial layout and possibilities of the antifascism tangible heritage for memorial tourism development in the municipalities and towns of Southern Istria. In the first half of the 20th century, the antifascist struggle in Istria was a crucial part of several political turning points. Those historical turning points had far-reaching consequences and, for the most part, were marked by armed conflicts, individual and mass human casualties and terror over the population. The motive of travel in memorial tourism here is to visit the places where these tragic events occurred and commemorate the victims. The aim of the research was to determine the geographical distribution of the antifascism tangible heritage in Southern Istria and their suitability for the development of memorial tourism. An additional objective was to propose thematic routes of memorial tourism in Southern Istrian municipalities and towns. Methods of analyses of historical research, fieldwork, participant observation, spatial and GIS analysis were used. The survey indicated that six South Istrian municipalities and two towns have 167 well-preserved and marked tangible antifascism monuments. The largest number of monuments are located in the central district of the city of Pula. The main contribution of this article was to provide re-evaluation of antifascism tangible heritage as the potential resource for the memorial tourism development as the innovation in the tourism supply of Istria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]