Pazin is the administrative centre of Istria, located in the centre of peninsula. Here is the Pazin pit, the subject of numerous legends, above which, on a steep cliff, lays the citadel, the medieval centre of the town which now contains the Ethnographic Museum and the Pazin Museum. The Pazin Citadel is the best preserved medieval fort in Istria mentioned for the first time in 983. The Citadel hosts the Ethnographic Museum and Pazin Museum, which contains the collection of 4000 items, such as folk costumes, agricultural tools, etc. The most famous natural attraction in Pazin and this part of Istria is the 130 meter deep Pazin pit. It is unique geological and speleological phenomena where the River Pazinčica flows underground. The mysterious pit inspired the writer Jules Verne to use it as the setting of a part of his novel Mathias Sandorf. Here is also the Church of St Nicholas, named after the patron of Pazin, and was originally a small church built in 1266. The frescoes depict the Genesis, Adam and Eve, and angels, and are among the most beautiful Late Gothic frescoes in Istria.