Interweaving of cultural heritage and natural beauty in Piran. Piran is a beautiful seaside town that hides a rich history, many legends and typical seaside houses and streets. The city is particularly famous as the birthplace of one of the most famous baroque composers and violinists in history, Giuseppe Tartini. Despite this, many people who visit Piran take a quick and superficial look at the city, which is a shame, because the city has much more to offer. If you take a little more time to explore, you will surely be surprised by what you can experience and discover in this beautiful seaside town.
Interweaving of cultural heritage and natural beauty in Piran – History of the city center and Tartini’s birthplace
The city center was probably already walled in the 7th century. The wall later moved towards the southeast and new quarters appeared within it. The largest part of the preserved walls belongs to the period of the 15th and 16th centuries, which became part of the medieval city area. The wall on the slope of Mogron is also historically important.
Tartini’s birthplace is one of the oldest houses in Piran and is mentioned as early as 1384 as the Gothic building Casa Pizagrua. It was later remodeled in the neoclassical style, and between 1985 and 1991 it was renovated. Today it is the headquarters of the Community of Italians and the community also owns the house. It hosts many cultural events, exhibitions and art workshops. The Tartini Memorial Room, with its exhibits of items left by Tartini himself, is of particular interest. In it you can see Tartini’s death mask, a violin, a copperplate depicting Tartini’s dream and an oil portrait of Tartini. Tartini’s letter to the famous violinist and Tartini’s student Maddalena Lombardina is also interesting.
Interweaving of cultural heritage and natural beauty in Piran – Tartini Square – the heart of Piran with a statue of the famous violinist
At the end of the 13th century, Tartini’s square became the most important square in Piran, but it got its present appearance in the second half of the 19th century. The mandrake was filled in, so that a large market platform was created, surrounded by all the important buildings in the city, including the municipal and court palaces. There are also many bourgeois buildings on the square, although many have lost their original form. An exception is the Gothic building, which today is called the Venetian. The square was named after the famous local violinist and composer Tartini, who became internationally renowned. The people of Piran wanted to erect a monument in honor of Tartini to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth in 1892. The statue was not completed until 1896 and was made life-size from a bronze alloy designed by the Venetian sculptor Antonio dal Zotto. Today it stands on Tartini square and beautifully connects the square with the church of St. Yuri.
Interweaving of cultural heritage and natural beauty in Piran – Monastery of St. Francis and the aquarium in Piran
Monastery of St. Francis was probably built before 1301, as the church was started to be built at that time. At first, the monastery was low and in the Gothic style, but later it was renovated and enlarged. In the 17th and 18th centuries, around 11 priests and 10 religious brothers lived in the monastery, who helped run the schools, including the school for religious candidates and the music department, where Antonio Tartini also acquired his basic musical knowledge.
The aquarium is located by the inner part of the harbor in Piran, at Kidričevo nabrežje 4. It was founded in 1964, but started operating a few years later. It consists of three pools of different sizes – 100, 300 and 2000 liters, in which visitors can see more than 200 different marine animals, including common octopus, various fish, crabs and algae.
The Sergej Maser Museum in Piran and the preservation of maritime history in Slovenia
The Sergej Mašer Museum was founded in 1954 and is dedicated to the preservation of maritime history in Slovenia. The museum contains an archaeological collection depicting sea routes and trade, as well as a collection of remains of settlements from sea and land. The special collection shows the process of extracting salt, which was important for the development of coastal cities in Slovenia. The museum is located in Piran and was named after the hero Sergej Maser in 1967. In addition to the museum, in Piran you can also learn about the salt pans that began to form in 804 and include the Fazan salt pans in Lucia, the smaller Strunjan salt pans and the largest Sečovel salt pans. The salt pans were important for the life and work of the salt pans, and the cultural heritage of the Piran salt pans provides an insight into their way of life and work. Due to development and changes in the region, today only the salt pans in Sečovlje and Strunjan have been preserved.
