Municipality of Piran
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Piran Pirano |
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| Town | ||
Panorama of Piran
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 Piran
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| Coordinates: 45°31′42.31″N 13°34′06.42″E / 45.5284194°N 13.5684500°ECoordinates: 45°31′42.31″N 13°34′06.42″E / 45.5284194°N 13.5684500°E | ||
| Country | Slovenia | |
| Region | Primorska | |
| Municipality | Piran | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Peter Bossman (SD) | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 0.7 km2 (0.3 sq mi) | |
| Population (2012) | ||
| • Total | 4,092 | |
| • Density | 5,875/km2 (15,220/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+01) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+02) | |
| Climate | Cfa | |
Piran (pronounced [piˈɾaːn]; Italian: Pirano) is a town in southwestern Slovenia on the Gulf of Piran on the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the three major towns of Slovenian Istria. The town has much medieval architecture, with narrow streets and compact houses. Piran is the administrative centre of the local area and one of Slovenia's major tourist attractions. Until the mid-20th century, Italian was the dominant language, but was replaced by Slovene as demographics shifted.
In the pre-Roman era, the hills in the Piran area were inhabited by Illyrian Histri tribes who were farmers, hunters and fishermen. They were also pirates who disrupted Roman trade in the northern Adriatic. The Piran peninsula was incorporated into the Roman Empire in 178 and 177 BC and settled in the following years with rural homes (villae rusticae).
The decline of the Roman Empire, from the 5th century AD onward, and incursions by the Avars and Slavs at the end of the 6th century, prompted the Roman population to withdraw into easily defensible locations such as islands or peninsulas. This started local urbanisation and by the 7th century, under Byzantine rule, Piran had become heavily fortified. Despite the defences, the Franks conquered Istria in 788 and Slavs settled in the region. By 952, Piran had become a part of the Holy Roman Empire.
The earliest reliable records of the area are in the 7th century work Cosmographia by an anonymous cleric of Ravenna. The name of the town most probably originates from the Greek "pyrranos", which means "red", because of the reddish flysch stones commonly found in the town's area. Some historians also refer it to "pyros", meaning fire, due to an ancient lighthouses which were supposed to be on the edge of the marine.
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Wikipedia