Koper, Slovenia

Koper is an Adriatic port town in southwestern Slovenia with a population around 25,000. It is among the main-road entry points from Italy (which is to the north of the municipality) into Slovenia. Koper also features a rail connection with the its capital of Ljubljana. Officially, the city is bilingual, with both Italian and Slovene as official languages. The main sights in Koper include the 12th-century Carmine Rotunda church, the Cathedral of St. Nazarius with a 14th-century tower, and a 15th-century Praetorian Palace and Loggia built in Venetian Gothic style. First founded during the Roman Empire (27 BC to 1453 AD), the port has played a significant role in the development of the region. It is one of the largest and the most important transit routes for shipping Asian-produced goods to central Europe.

Norman was our guide, for a total of just eight of us (some days we had 30!). We had a short walk through Koper’s Old Town center (now called Tito Square). We entered through the 15th-century Muda Gate, the original city gate and the last of the 12 that had surrounded Koper. We next traveled an hour by bus to Slovenia’s capital city of Ljubljana. Shirley bought a colorful cork purse for herself at an upscale rest stop. We took the funicular to Ljubljana Castle and the Chapel of St. George within its walls. The small chapel is one of the nicest sights in the castle; it has pink as its main color scheme for the setting of the lovely painted frescoes on the ceiling and upper walls. It was dedicated to St. George, the patron saint of Ljubljana, in 1489. St. George supposedly slayed a dragon, which is said to represent the old ancestral paganism that was overcome by Christianity. We had a traditional Slovenian layered vegetable casserole for lunch at an outdoor cafe and spotted a bakery for dogs only. Later we came upon the dramatic Dragon Bridge.Read more