Koper
Koper -
Capodistria (
Capodistria in
Italian,
Koper in
Slovenian), pop. 25,000, is a coastal town and municipality and the largest commercial
port in
Slovenia, on the
Adriatic Sea coast. Sights in Koper include 15th century
Praetor's Palace (Palazzo Pretorio) in Venetian Gothic style, the 12th century
Carmine Rotunda church, and the
Cathedral of St Nazarius with its 14th century tower.
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Praetor's Palace (Palazzo Pretorio) |
The town rose from an ancient settlement built on an island in the southeastern part of the Gulf of Trieste in the northern Adriatic. In the time of
Ancient Greece, the town was known as
Aegida, later it became known by its
Latin names
Capris,
Caprea,
Capre or
Caprista, from which the modern Slovenian 'Koper' name stems.
In
568, Roman citizens of nearby
Tergestum (modern
Trieste) fled to 'Aegida' due to an invasion of the
Lombards. In honour of the
Byzantine emperor Justinian II, Capris was renamed to
Giustinopoli (or Justinopolis in latin). Later, Giustinopoli was under both Lombard and
Frankish rule.
Trade between Giustinopoli and
Venice had been registered since
932. In the war between Venice and
Germany (
Holy Roman Empire), Giustinopoli was on the German side and was as a result awarded with
town rights, granted in
1035 by emperor
Conrad II. Since
1232, Giustinopoli belonged to the
patriarch of
Aquileia, and in
1278 it freely joined the
Venetian Republic.
Giustinopoli grew to become the capital of Venetian
Istria and was renamed to
Capo d'Istria, "Cape of Istria" (from which its modern
Italian name
Capodistria stems).
Since the
8th century, possibly even since the
6th century, the town was the seat of a
diocese. One of its
bishops was the
Lutheran reformer
Pier Paolo Vergerio. In
1828, it was merged with the diocese of Trieste.
During the period of the
Austrian Empire, the town was, along with
Trieste, part of the
Austrian Littoral crown land. Capodistria was joined to Italy after
World War I.After the end of
World War II the town became part of Zone B of the
Free Territory of Trieste, administrated by
Yugoslavia. The city was renamed with the slovenian name 'Koper'.Most of the Italian original inhabitants left the city after 1945, due to persecutions.A further exodus happened in [1954], when the
Free Territory of Trieste formally ceased to exist and Zone B was incorporated in the communist
Yugoslavia. The Italians were replaced with slavic immigrants.
The diocese was separated from Trieste.
With Slovenian independence in 1991 Koper became the only commercial port town of
Slovenia. The municipality of Koper-Capodistria is officially bilingual (Slovenian and Italian). The
University of Primorska is based in the town.
*
Nazario Sauro*
Santorio Santorio*
Francesco Trevisani*
Pier Paolo Vergerio il giovane (the young)
*
Pier Paolo Vergerio il vecchio (the old)
*
Gian Carlo Rinaldi*
Vittore Carpaccio*
Giorgio Cobolli*
Pierantonio Quarantotti Gambini*
Spartaco Schergat*
Official website in English*
Port of Koper*
University of Primorska*
Aerial view of Koper
