Piran
Piran (Italian:
Pirano) is a city and municipality in southwestern Slovenia
on the Gulf of Piran on the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the
three major towns of Slovenian Istria. The city resembles a
large open-air museum, with medieval architecture and a rich
cultural heritage. Narrow streets and compact houses give
the town its special charm. Piran is the administrative
centre of the local area and one of Slovenia's major tourist
attractions.
Piran is the birthplace of composer and violinist Giuseppe
Tartini, who played an important role in shaping its
cultural heritage. The town's main square, Tartini Square (Slovene:
Tartinijev trg, Italian: Piazza Tartini), is named after him.
In 1892, to mark the 200th anniversary of Tartini's birth,
the people of Piran decided to erect a monument in his
honour. Venetian artist Antonio dal Zotto was commissioned
to create the larger-than-life bronze statue of the maestro,
which was eventually mounted on its pedestal in 1896. The
statue dominates the square, overlooked by the Cathedral of
Saint George.
Piran is now the seat of the Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI),
founded in 2008 as one of the cultural projects of the
Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean.
Cultural eventsThe municipality's festival is on
October 15, which celebrates the foundation of the first
Slovenian partisan naval detachment named Koper, in 1944.
This was the first ever Slovenian naval military unit.
Piran was heavily influenced by the Venetian Republic and
Austria-Hungary, therefore the monuments differ greatly from
the ones in inner parts of Slovenia. The Piran town walls
were constructed to protect the town from Turkish Empire,
and many parts of the city walls from different eras remain
up to this day and are important attractions for tourists.
In the middle of the town the Tartini Square is located, on
which a monument in memory of Giuseppe Tartini stands since
1896. Nearby are located various important buildings, such
as, Tartini’s house which is first mentioned in 1384, and is
one of the oldest in town, the Municipal Palace, Loggia and
Benečanka, among others. On the hill above the town is the
biggest and most important church, the Church of Saint
George, with the Franciscan monastery nearby. |
