Piran ia beautiful small town in southwestern Slovenia; on the Adriatic coast.
I have visited it as a day trip from Portorose several times. Portorose is a sea side resort some ten minutes far from Piran, by bus.
The old core of this town is made of a maze of narrow streets. There you will find cafes, restaurants and shops.
Tartini square is the main square in Piran. It was named after the violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) who was born in this town.
Long ago this square was a harbour for fishing boats. In 1894 it was filled in because of bad smell, filth and for health and sanitary reasons.
Tartini Square is surrounded by various colorful houses, the New Town Hall, the Court Hall; Tartini' s birthplace and the Venetian House.
The Venetian house is a red palace built in the middle of the 15th century. It is the oldest preserved house on this square. It was built by a merchant for his mistress.
As a response for the gossips about this relationship a stone inscription with the words "lassa pur dir" (= let them say) was put on its facade.
There are several churches in Piran. There is even a cathedral; t. It is dedicated to Saint George. This church was probably built in the XII century. The present building dates back to the year 1637.
Inside there is a beautiful organ, some interesting paintings and the Crucifix of Piran made in the 14th century. It is a very moving masterpiece.
Next to the church stands a bell tower built in the 1608. It is said this is a very good viewpoint over the town.
Another building near the cathedral is the baptistery; built in the 1650. Adjacent to the cathedral there is a small museum with some interesting works of art and the crypt.
Just outside the Cathedral there is a viewpoint where you can see most of Tartini Square and some areas in Piran.
Saint Francis' church was built originally in the early 14th century; enlarged and renovated over the centuries. The present interior dates from the 17th century and the exterior from the 19th century. This church belongs to a Minorite monastery.
Tartini' s family members are buried under a slab below the floor of this church.
What I liked much of this church is a painted inner dome.
Next to the church there is a white cloister that is used for concerts in the summer. In a small room near the cloister there is a collection of paintings and some ancients statues.
There is a beautiful aquarium in Piran. It is housed inside Villa Piranesi; not far from the harbour.
You can' t compare it with the aquariums in cities as Valencia or Lisbon. This is a small aquarium with 25 tanks where around 140 sea creatures live.
Here you won' t find tropical fishes, but local sea animals.
I think the aquarium is a good place to spend one hour or more. It is the right attraction to take your kids.
On my second visit to Piran I had a stroll to the Punta lighthouse area. It is located on the tip of the Piran peninsula.
Beyond the lighthouse there is a church formerly consacrated to Saint Clement. In the 17th century it was renamed as Our Lady of Health because of the plague that propagated throughout Istria. This church was first mentioned in the 13th century.
At the lighthouse area there is a good choice of restaurants and a concrete beach.
The Maritime Museum Sergej Masera is housed in the Gabrielli Palace. It was built in the middle of he 19th century.
Here you can see exibits on marine archaeology under a ground floor covered with glass; a collection of ancient model ship replicas; tools for repairing and building ships, navigational instruments, sailors uniforms and many other things.
I am not into "maritime things", but I liked this museum anyway. The statue you see in the second pic was one of the things I liked most here
The 1st of May square was the administrative center of Piran until the 13th century. Here stood the old town hall.
On this square you see the deconsacrated church of Saint Donat (1325) which houses an art gallery; some restaurants and a supermarket.
In the middle of the square there is a stone cistern surrounded by four statues. The bigger ones depict law and justice; the others two cherubs.
The cistern was built after the severe draught in 1775. Gutters were connected to the statues from the surrounding roofs in order to collect rain water. Then it was purified through sand.
This featured blog entry was written by Maurizioagos from the blog My travels..
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