The Prvomajski trg is a short distance away from Tartini Square. On closer inspection, the statues in the square reveal a practical purpose:
Prvomajski trg, has an elaborate Baroque fountain. Built in 1776 on top of the town’s balustraded cistern, the fountain is fronted by an imposing pair of statues symbolizing Law and Justice. A stone cherub holding an amphora stands on one corner of the balustrade. The guttering of a nearby house is fed into pipes that point down towards the cherub, so the rainwater from the gutter gushes out of the amphora.*
*From the Eyewitness travel guide to Slovenia.
Tags: Piran, Slovenia, Vacation
On seeing Piran harbour for the first time I couldn’t help but notice black flags flying on many boats that were moored there. The flags, which appeared to be made out of plastic bin liners reminded me of Pirate Ships. I wondered what they were for.
Later in the week I heard a tour guide explaining that the black plastic flags were placed on the boats to scare away the seagulls. This is in an attempt to stop the seagulls stealing fish from the fishermen.
Tags: Boat, Fishing, Piran, Seagulls, Slovenia, Vacation
The church was first mentioned in the 13th Century.
It acquired its present day appearance after numerous renovation works in the year 1773 and extensive restoration in the year 1890. It was dedicated to the one of the first Roman popes – St Clement. Because of the dreaded plague that propagated throughout Istria in the 17th Century, the church was renamed as Our Lady of Health Church, as St. Mary was together with St. Rocco an intercessor against plague.
Attached to the keepers cottage next to the church is the Punta Lighthouse.
The semi-octagonal lighthouse attached to the front of the keeper’s house, all built on the circular stone pier. Lantern apparently removed. Far from a typical lighthouse, it is simply a large light bulb with a Fresnel lens attached to the fence which surrounds the bell tower beside the keeper’s house. The round bell tower is often mistaken for the lighthouse.
Tags: Piran, Piran Bay, Punta Lighthouse, Slovenia, St Clement's Church, Vacation
The distinctive red building in Piran Square is known as the Venetian House, it was built in the mid 15th century.
One of Piran’s most eye-catching structures is the red 15th-century Gothic Venetian House with its tracery windows and balcony in the northeast of the square. There is a story attached to the stone relief between the two windows of a lion with a banner in its mouth and the Latin inscription Lassa pur dir above it. A wealthy merchant from Venice fell in love with a beautiful local girl, but she soon became the butt of local gossips. To shut them up (and keep his lover happy), the merchant built her this little palace complete with a reminder for his loose-lipped neighbours: ‘Let them talk’.
Read more: The Lonely Planet Guide
Today the Venetian House is home to the the salt shop Piranske Solene.
Saltmaking is one of the oldest economic activities on the north-eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, and the salt trade was once one of the most important branches of commerce in the territory of present-day Slovenia. This trade had a decisive role in the development of Trieste, Piran, Izola and Koper. At the beginning of the last century, Slovenia’s coast – all 46.6 kilometres of it – was dotted with saltworks. The most important of them were the Piran saltworks, although all that remains of them today is a section of the small saltworks in Strunjan. The extensive Sečovlje saltworks at the mouth of the river Dragonja, covering an area of around 850 hectares, are however still active today
Read more: The salt works in Sečovlje
Tags: Architecture, Piran, Salt, Salt Works, Slovenia, The Venetian House, Vacation
Summer in England has arrived unseasonably late. I am not complaining, the days have been warm enough for me to enjoy sitting out on the patio reading a book watching the sun go down.
Tags: Bee, Cherie's Place, Flowers, Garden, My Oak Tree, Oak, Summer, Sun, Sunset
Vulcan XH558 is reaching the end of her flying days and over the weekend she flew a couple of farewell fly past tours. I was able to stand on a grassy mound at Cosford in order to watch her fly by.
We heard her before we saw her because her approach was obscured by the Cold War Hangar. All of a sudden she popped out round the side of the building, tilted her wings towards the crowd and was gone…
Cosford was heaving so we went into one of the hangars to wait for the queues of traffic exiting the site to die down. We visited an art gallery which we were pleasantly suprised to find was exhibiting a different display than usual. It was an exhibition of art commemorating WWI so all the paintings were of WWI aircraft. We spent some time enjoying the paintings, of which there were several that I would happily hang on the walls in my home. By the time we had finished viewing them the traffic had eased and we were able to make our way home.
These photos are from a previous visit to Cosford when Vulcan XH558 treated us to an aerial display before heading off into the distance.
Tags: Avro Vulcan, Cosford, Museum, Vulcan, XH558
You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.
Rabindranath Tagore
Tags: Cherie's Place Thought, Piran, Sea, Slovenia, Sunset, Vacation
