Tourist maps of Motovun appeared five or six years ago under the current mayor and his team. Although the maps change from year to year, they remain the same in terms of their key features. Produced by the Tourist Board of the Motovun Municipality, they offer basic information about the hilltown and its environs, including the neighboring settlements—Brkač, Kaldir, and Saint Bartol. All visitors get the maps for free. For some reason that escapes me at present, today I examined the current version of this tourist aid for the very first time. To the best of my recollection, I have never spent any time examining the previous versions.

On one side of a largish piece of paper there are maps of the Istrian peninsula and the Motovun Municipality, while the map of the hilltown itself is on the other side. The map of the municipality bears ten symbols in alphabetical order: accommodation, culture, fruit, gastronomy, gas station, olive oil, parking, souvenir shop, viewpoint, and wine. By the way, symbols for culture and souvenir shops appears only on top of the hilltown. The map of the medieval town bears eleven such symbols: automated teller machine or ATM, cemetery, cultural and educational center, dentist, gas station, infirmary, money exchange, parking, pharmacy, shuttle bus, and wi-fi hot spot. On either side of the hilltown’s map there are ads for accommodations, camping lot, cultural and educational center, fruit producers, hotels, real estate agents, restaurants, souvenir shops, truffle shops and hunters, and wine producers.

Having examined both sides of the paper with due care, which has taken me between a quarter and half an hour, I nod to myself in approval. Yes, this is Motovun as it has come to pass—a tourist attraction of growing renown. In fact, there is nothing of any importance in the town and the entire municipality that is not on the maps already. Lately, it is about tourism and nothing but tourism (“Sacro turismo,” May 6, 2016). And this is how things are likely to remain for many more years, I reckon. As for the local population, most of it can now be found in two cemeteries—one close to the top of the Motovun hill, and another at its bottom. Both are clearly marked on the map of the town. Judging by their advancing age, the remaining inhabitants are heading there at a clip, as well. Alleluia!