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