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

The Church you see today is a mixture of the medieval and the contemporary. It stands as a physical reminder of the deep historic roots of Christianity and of the changing ways in which people have understood God. There was probably a church on the site in Anglo-Saxon times, but the earliest part of the present building is the Tower, built in 1280.  The ornate spire was added a little later, between 1315 and 1325 – giving University Church the most distinctive and beautiful of Oxford’s ‘dreaming’ spires.

The Adam de Brome Chapel

Shortly after the Tower was completed, a Chapel was added to the Church by the Rector, Adam de Brome.  He was an influential clergyman and scholar who also established, in 1324, a new college now known as Oriel.  His tomb was placed in this Chapel and can still be seen, although the brass fittings were stolen from it in the seventeenth century.

For centuries the Chapel was used as a courtroom, from where the Chancellor of the University exercised a surprisingly wide jurisdiction over life within the city.  Records show that he fixed rents, fined sellers of bad meat, and even sent a ‘scolding woman’ to prison.  The woodwork in the Chapel today dates from 1733, and was repainted during the recent restoration.*

The Chancel

The current Chancel was completed in 1463, in the ‘late perpendicular’ style characterised by large windows and slim stone columns.  The contrast with the flamboyant decoration of the Tower is very clear.  The wooden stalls also date from this period; some even have graffiti marks made by medieval choirboys.

At the East end, the wood panelling and the altar rails were added by the Chancellor, Dr Ralph Bathurst, in the 1670s.  At this time, baroque and classical themes were increasingly common in English church architecture.  The painting above the altar, on loan from the Ashmolean, is from a similar period; named the ‘Virgin & Child of the Column” it is by Simon Vouet (1590-1649), a French artist often credited with bringing the Italian baroque style to France.

The statues in the niches were placed there in 1933 and commemorate the centenary of the Oxford movement; the niches themselves are medieval and traces of the original pain remain.  The marble stones on the floor record the names of some of those buried here, including Amy Robsart, wife of Robert Dudley, Queen Elizabeth’s favourite, who died somewhat mysteriously in 1560.*

The Nave

Work began on the present Nave after the completion of the Chancel, and it was finished in about 1510.  It is also in the ‘late perpendicular’ style, with slender columns and large windows to allow light into the building.  A screen has always divided the Nave from the Chancel; our current organ screen was installed as part of the refitting of 1827.

Above the altar in the Nave are painted gold stars on a blue ceiling.  This decoration is called a ‘celure’, from the old-English word ‘celen’ meaning ‘to cover’. This 2012 celure shows the constellation Pleiades, mentioned in the Bible in Job 38.

The six stone carvings on the wall of the South Aisle are “Meditations on the Precious Blood”, showing scenes from the passion and crucifixion of Christ. They were created by a local artist, Bernard Johnson, and are based on drawings by Eric Gill, one of the leading figures in the twentieth-century Arts and Crafts movement.*

The Stained Glass

Apart from a few medieval fragments in the east window, the glass in University Church dates from the 19th century. The great west window above the gallery was designed by Charles Kempe and finished in 1891. It shows the tree of Jesse, surrounded by figures from the Bible. Also notable is the Pugin window at the east end of the south aisle, showing scenes from the life of St Thomas the Apostle.*

The Organ

In 1947 a disastrous fire destroyed the original 17th-century ‘Father’ Smith organ. Its replacement, by J W Walker, had become unplayable by 1981. The present organ, the third, was built in 1987 by Metzler Orgelbau of Zurich with the intention of recapturing the spirit of the original ‘Father’ Smith. It is undoubtedly one of the finest instruments of its kind, and incorporates the few of Smith’s decorative pipe shades (cases for the pipes) which survived the fire.*

*Quoted text from University Church architecture page.

An intricate pattern of ribs and bosses adorns the vaulted ceiling of the presbytery.  The central boss positioned directly above the high alter is a representation of the Holy Trinity attended by two angels.  To the west is St Andrew holding the cross and reading clockwise are St Bartholomew holding the flaying knife, St Peter with the keys, St Thomas with the spear, St James the Less grasping the bludgeon, St James the Greater holding his staff and a scrip or costrel, St Paul with a sword, and St Matthias with an axe.  To the south of St Andrew is a saint holding a book.  Another boss has an angel and other bosses are carved with roses and leaves.*

*From the Historic Scotland guidebook to Melrose Abbey.

Melrose Abbey, in the heart of the beautiful Scottish Border country, was founded in the twelfth century by the Cistercian order of monks. They were drawn to this fertile spot beside the River Tweed through its intimate associations with the holy men St Aidan and St Cuthbert. The Abbey grew to be one of the most wealthiest and most majestic medieval monasteries of Scotland, and its abbey church is one of the finest expressions of the order’s ‘architecture of solitude’.*

*From the Historic Scotland guidebook to Melrose Abbey

NORHAM is the place where St Aidan crossed the Tweed on his way from Iona to establish his monastery at Lindisfarne or Holy Island in A.D. 635.

It is said that when a stone church was built at Lindisfarne the wooden structure was transferred to Norham.  the preaching cross on the village green may be on the site of this church.

The first stone church in Norham was founded in A.D. 830.  The site of this church is probably to the east of the present church where there is now a clump of large yew trees in the churchyard.

Celtic stones found in the churchyard have been cemented into a square pillar which may be seen beside the fount.  They include parts of more than one cross shaft as well as a cross head.

The coffin of St Cuthbert was brought from Lindisfarne to Norham in a A.D. 875 when Danish invaders were threatening the monastery (the burnt it shortly afterwards).  After many wanderings the coffin was finally buried at Durham and the cathedral was built over it.  The bones of ST Ceolwulph, King of Northumbria and later a monk, were brought from Warkworth and buried in the porch of the first stone church of Norham, which was dedicated to St Peter,  St Cuthbert and St Ceolwulph.  Later, Gosperic, first Earl of Northumberland, was buried in the same church.*

*From church information leaflet.