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Location | Koper, Slovenia |
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Coordinates | 45°32′53.75″N13°43′41.25″E / 45.5482639°N 13.7281250°E |
The Koper Regional Museum (Slovene : Pokrajinski muzej Koper; Italian : Museo regionale di Capodistria) has been housed since 1954 in the spacious early 17th century Belgramoni Tacco Palace, and is responsible for the movable cultural heritage in Primorska region of Slovenia. The museum originated in 1911 as the Municipal Museum of History and Art (Museo Civico di Storia e d'Arte). At its centenary in 2011, the museum opened a new permanent exhibition Between the Serenissima, Napoleon and the Habsburgs and enriched its collection. [1]
The first initiatives to establish a museum in Koper-Capodistria took place as early as the late 18th century, but the main push for its foundation was provided by the first exhibition of the Istrian Region in Koper (Prima Esposizione Provinciale Istriana) in 1910.[ citation needed ] One year later the then Municipality of Koper-Capodistria established the Municipal Museum of History and Art (Museo Civico di Storia e d'Arte), and after the First World War the spacious early 17th century Belgramoni Tacco Palace building was set aside for use as a museum.
During the Second World War, the permanent collection was seriously impaired when many precious works of art were evacuated to Friuli (Villa Manin in Passariano). When 'Zone B' was incorporated into Slovenia in 1954, the museum was renamed the District Museum, and in 1967 its name was changed to Koper Regional Museum (Museo Regionale di Capodistria). From 1981 to 1985, the museum's central building was completely renovated and this made it possible to expand the museum's activities and to rearrange its collections.
The museum has a wide scope of coverage, mainly concerning Primorska region: archaeology, history, art and cultural history, ethnology and cultural heritage of coastal and karst areas. Important attention is being paid to participation in cultural, scientific and educational establishments and associations, with particular emphasis on cooperation with Slovenian institutions abroad and Italian and Croatian institutions in Istria and Dalmatia.
Today, the parent museum building presents an archaeological collection and collections covering the history of culture, art and history of Istria from its very beginning to the end of the 19th century. The conservation restoration workshop preserves the museum material and organizes the technical days and workshops at the temporary exhibitions in the context of educational activities.
The museum manages three satellites; in 1983 the Ethnological Collection of Koper Regional Museum was established as an independent branch, and in 1990 the museum also assumed responsibility for the Tartini Memorial Room, housed in the Piran birthplace of composer and violinist Giuseppe Tartini. The third satellite collection was opened in Prem Castle in 2008, presenting castles and building sites in the Reka river basin.
The recent permanent exhibition Between the Serenissima, Napoleon and the Habsburgs covers the period from 16h to 19th century and presents some of the most prominent residents such as the bishops Paolo Naldini and Pier Paolo Vergerio jr. (1498–1565), Santorio Santorio (1561–1636), a doctor and researcher who invented the thermometer, and the writer and historian Giovanni Rinaldo (1720–1795). The display includes the weapon collection, presented for the first time.
Both the lapidary collection and the open air collection in the palace garden present the oldest material culture of the coastal and karst areas. The culture and art history collection consists of sculptures, paintings and arts and crafts products, arranged in chronological order and by theme, from early medieval sculptures with guilloche ornamentation (9th–11th centuries) to a fresco copy of The Dance of Death from Hrastovlje and inscriptions in the Glagolitic alphabet.
Pinakoteka presents paintings, sculptures and products of the arts and crafts, complemented by 17th- and 18th-century furnishings from the Venetian cultural area, while historical material from the 18th and 19th centuries presents some eminent figures from the fields of medicine, pharmacy, the Enlightenment and political life in the Koper area.
In the pavilion along the museum's lapidary, a collection of the recent history of the Southern Primorska region is presented, the fight for survival in Brkini, Slovenska Bistrica and Istra, portrayed also on Rapallo painting by Tone Kralj, while at Gramsci Square an ethnological collection is on permanent display.
The museum presents several own and travelling exhibitions through the year. In 1995–1998 an exhibition of recent history was assembled in the pavilion adjacent to the museum's lapidary collection, presenting the national and political struggle of the Istrian Slovenes and people from Primorje (the coast land) at the turn of the 20th century. This exhibition covers the periods from the national awakening of the Istrian Slovenes before the First World War up to the incorporation of Zone B of the Free Territory of Trieste and the diplomatic struggle for the incorporation of the area into the Slovene homeland (London Memorandum 1954).
In February 2010 a joint exhibition of Koper Museum and several other Slovenian museums, together with a Town Museum Trieste With a Fibula into Fable is being planned. The exhibition presents brooches which were found in Western Slovenian area, adjacent to the Friuli region. It follows the development of fibulae in that area from prehistoric to Roman times and the early Middle Ages.
Istria is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at the top of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Kvarner Gulf, the peninsula is shared by three countries: Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy, 90% of its area being part of Croatia. Most of Croatian Istria is part of Istria County.
Taja Kramberger is a Slovenian poet, translator, essayist and historical anthropologist from Slovenia. She lives in France.
Giuseppe Tartini was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era born in Pirano in the Republic of Venice. Tartini was a prolific composer, composing over a hundred pieces for the violin, the majority of them violin concertos. He is best remembered for his Violin Sonata in G Minor.
Koper is the fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper is the country's only container port and a major contributor to the economy of the Municipality of Koper. The city is a destination for a number of Mediterranean cruising lines.
Piran 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 is known for its medieval architecture, with narrow streets and compact houses. Piran is the administrative seat of the Municipality of Piran and one of Slovenia's major tourist attractions.
Radiotelevizija Slovenija – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization.
The Austrian Littoral was a crown land (Kronland) of the Austrian Empire, established in 1849. It consisted of three regions: the Margraviate of Istria in the south, Gorizia and Gradisca in the north, and the Imperial Free City of Trieste in the middle. The region has been contested frequently, with parts of it controlled at various times by the Republic of Venice, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Yugoslavia among others.
The Slovene Littoral, or simply Littoral, is one of the traditional regions of Slovenia. The littoral in its name – for a coastal-adjacent area – recalls the former Austrian Littoral, the Habsburg possessions on the upper Adriatic coast, of which the Slovene Littoral was part. Today, the Littoral is often associated with the Slovenian ethnic territory that, in the first half of the 20th century, found itself in Italy to the west of the Rapallo Border, which separated a quarter of Slovenes from the rest of the nation, and was strongly influenced by Italian fascism.
Slovenia has been a meeting area of the Slavic, Germanic, Romance, and Uralic linguistic and cultural regions, which makes it one of the most complex meeting point of languages in Europe. The official and national language of Slovenia is Slovene, which is spoken by a large majority of the population. It is also known, in English, as Slovenian. Two minority languages, namely Hungarian and Italian, are recognised as co-official languages and accordingly protected in their residential municipalities. Other significant languages are Croatian and its variants and Serbian, spoken by most immigrants from other countries of former Yugoslavia and their descendants. Slovenia is ranked among the top European countries regarding the knowledge of foreign languages. The most often taught foreign languages are English and German, followed by Italian, French, and Spanish.
The Italian language is an officially recognized minority language in Slovenia, along with Hungarian. Around 3,700 Slovenian citizens speak Italian as their mother tongue, mostly Istrian Italians. Their numbers drastically decreased following the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus (1943–1960). Italian has a strong presence in Slovenia, both historical and current. An estimated 15% of Slovenians speak Italian as a second language, which is one of the highest percentages in the European Union.
Zoran Mušič, baptised as Anton Zoran Musič, was a Slovene painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. He was the only painter of Slovene descent who managed to establish himself in the elite cultural circles of Italy and France, particularly Paris in the second half of the 20th century, where he lived for most of his later life. He painted landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and self-portraits, as well as scenes of horror from the Dachau concentration camp and vedute of Venice.
Gravisi–Buttorai Mansion is a mansion in Koper, a port town in southwestern Slovenia. It is a protected monument of local significance. The mansion is situated at Shoemaker's Street in the old town center. It was the seat of a branch of the Gravisi family, whose senior line had the title of Marquis of Pietrapelosa, first granted to Nicolò Gravisi in 1440.
Gravisi–Barbabianca Mansion is a Baroque mansion in Koper, a port town in southwestern Slovenia. It was built in 1710. It was the family seat of the Gravisi family, who held the title of the Marquis of Pietrapelosa. Today it is the home of a music school.
Belgramoni–Tacco Mansion is a mansion in the city of Koper, in southwestern Slovenia. It was built around 1600. It features elements of Renaissance and Baroque, but in general has been regarded as a Mannerist building. The mansion currently serves as the seat of the Regional Museum of Koper. It is protected as a cultural monument of local significance.
TV Koper Capodistria is a Slovene free-to-air television channel based in Koper, Slovenia. Mainly funded by state aid, the channel serves the Italian-speaking minority in Slovenia and Croatia. It can also be received in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
Istrian Italians are an ethnic group from the Adriatic region of Istria in modern northwestern Croatia and southwestern Slovenia. Istrian Italians descend from the original Latinized population of Roman Histria, from the Venetian-speaking settlers who colonized the region during the time of the Republic of Venice, and from the local Croatian people who culturally assimilated.
Slovene Istria is a region in southwest Slovenia. It comprises the northern part of the Istrian peninsula, and is part of the wider geographical-historical region known as the Slovene Littoral. Its largest urban center is Koper. Other large settlements are Izola, Piran, and Portorož. The entire region has around 120 settlements. In its coastal area, both Slovene and Italian are official languages.
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