The three parts of the town are connected by a system of internal and external fortifications with towers and city gates containing elements of Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance styles, built between the 14th and 17th centuries.

The church contains several works of art: the marble statues of St. Stephen and St. Laurence by Francesco Bonazzo and the 17th-century painting of the Last Supper over the altar by an unknown Venetian artist.

This area differs completely not only from the nearby forests, but also from those of the entire surrounding karst region because of its wildlife, moist soil and prized black and white truffles (Tuber magnatum), which grow successfully there.

Motovun is known among today's population of Istria as the city of Veli Jože, the good gentle giant, written by the nationalist Vladimir Nazor, one of the most important Croatian writers of the 20th century.

The story was based on local folktales as a response to the national struggles of the Croats for equality with the politically dominant ethnic German and Italian community (1900–1914).

The biggest current local issue is the battle between foreign developers, who have proposed two 18-hole golf courses and a 500+-bed resort in the valley below the town, extending the existing 9-hole course and some of the local community, who are opposed to the proposals because of objections against the real estate speculation around the project, rejection of 123 building sites for villas in the protected natural environment and concerns about possible damage to their truffles growing on the other side of the river.