Gradinje

In the eastern part of the Municipality of Cerovlje, on the hills between Gologorica and Belaj, there are a dozen villages commonly called Gradinje.  They are all linked by a small church dedicated to All Saints, built in 1604. the church is surrounded by the cemetery. The church has a wooden statue of St. Jelena that derives from a ruined church once dedicated to the same Saint. In the apse, under a few layers of render there are traces of frescos and Glagolitic graffiti. Next to the church are the remains of a once very high tower.

Gradinje was mentioned for the first time in the deed of donation of the count Ulrich the Second in 1102. The document was probably talking about the tower, which together with the whole estate, became part of the property of the Patriarchs of Acquileia. It is quite common in this area to call a tower or a castle by the name grad. (grad=town; Gradinje) It is quite clear that the area was named after the tower whose remains stand out over the valley towards the Valley of Čepić.

In the 13th century Gradinje becomes the property of Boljun who was, together with Paz, ruled by Friedrich Eberstein around 1300. Since these times the destiny of Paz and Gradinje has been closely connected. The tower of Gradinje has been a sort of a sanctuary for the peasants of the neighbouring villages for centuries but the attacks of Venetian army in the War of Uskoks (1615 - 1618)  were, unfortunately, too frequent for it to withstand. In these confrontations, the tower was damaged and never renovated. In the later centuries, Gradinje was under the rule of the captains of Pazin and the sovereigns of Belaj, and when the Municipality of Boljun was founded in 1814, Gradinje became a constituent part of it. In later years, the destiny of Paz was connected with Paz.