In the area of the present town centre, two thousand years ago, the Romans, after submitting the ancient civilization Histri, establish a colony called Colonia Iulia Parentium. In a turbulent history, the town was ruled the Byzantine Empire, Venetian Republic, Napoleon's France, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy and Yugoslavia. The Roman castrum town street layout has been preserved till today. Decumanus and Cardo Maximus streets are still in its original ancient form. Marafor was a Roman square (forum) with two temples. One of them, built in the 1st century, dedicated to the Roman god Neptune, 30 metres wide and 11 metres long, can be found at Marafor square. The ruins of few houses from the Romanesque period (e.g. Romanesque house in Marafor) have been preserved, as well as several splendid Venetian Gothic palaces. The Euphrasius Basilica Complex , extended in the 6th century under the Byzantine Empire and the bishop Euphrasy, represents the most important and most valuable cultural monument of Poreč, and was declared a world heritage monument by UNESCO in 1997. Because of its outstanding geographical position and natural and cultural beauty, Poreč is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Croatia.