| Walls of Piran | |
|---|---|
Piransko obzidje | |
| Piran, southwestern Slovenia | |
 The Third Wall | |
| Type | Walls |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Municipality of Piran |
| Open to the public | all time |
| Condition | Well-preserved |
| Site history | |
| Built | 7th century onward |
| Materials | Limestone |
The Walls of Piran (Slovene : Piransko obzidje) are the defensive walls of Piran, a coastal town on the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Slovenia. Significant parts of the fortification walls remain well-preserved.
Piran's three walls were built in response to the city's expansion. The first wall was built in the 7th century, separating the town into four streets, named after each of the entrances into the town: Miljska, Stolna, Osrednja (main) and Poljska. The first wall can be seen in the old part of the town. The wall was moved south-west when new streets were built. The fortification wall, which was built along the southern coast of the town, hasn't changed much since it was first built. [1]
At the end of the 13th century, when Piran came under Venetian rule, the town grew further and in response the second wall was built. This wall included the town quarter of Campo.
In the final phases of expansion between 1470 and 1538, the third fortification wall was built to protect the peninsula during construction. It protected the Marčana quarter. The biggest part was built when the use of gunpowder became frequent. [2]
The third wall is almost completely intact. Its northern part is accessible while the southern wall's floors and stairs are missing or are under reconstruction. Between them a gap opened where the wall collapsed. A small portion of the third wall is next to the rectory, facing north. A tower viewer is located in one of the towers.
Seven city entrances or gates remain preserved: [1]
In Bratislava, Slovakia, Michael's Gate is the only city gate that has been preserved of the medieval fortifications and ranks among the oldest town buildings. Built about the year 1300, its present shape is the result of baroque reconstructions in 1758, when the statue of St. Michael and the Dragon was placed on its top. The tower houses the Exhibition of Weapons of Bratislava City Museum.
Konin is a city in central Poland, on the Warta River. It is the capital of Konin County and is located within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Prior to 1999, it was the capital of the Konin Voivodeship. In 2021 the population of the city was 71,427, making it the fourth-largest city in Greater Poland after Poznań, Kalisz and Piła.
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.
A concentric castle is a castle with two or more concentric curtain walls, such that the outer wall is lower than the inner and can be defended from it. The layout was square where the terrain permitted, or an irregular polygon where curtain walls of a spur castle followed the contours of a hill.
Portorož is a Slovenian Adriatic seaside resort and spa settlement located in the Municipality of Piran in southwestern Slovenia. Its modern development began in the late 19th century with the vogue for the first health resorts. In the early 20th century Portorož became one of the grandest seaside resorts in the Adriatic, along with Opatija, Lido and Grado, then as part of the Austrian Littoral. It is now one of Slovenia's major tourist areas. Located in the centre is the Palace Hotel, once one of the most important resorts for the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and currently one of the finest hotels between Venice and Dubrovnik.
Montagnana is a town and comune in the province of Padova, in Veneto. Neighbouring communes are Borgo Veneto, Casale di Scodosia, Urbana, Bevilacqua, Pojana Maggiore, Pressana, Minerbe and Roveredo di Guà. As of 2017, the population of Montagnana is 9120. The town was awarded with the Bandiera arancione and is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia.
Bratislava Castle is the main castle of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on an isolated rocky hill of the Little Carpathians, directly above the Danube river, in the middle of Bratislava. Because of its size and location, it has been a dominant feature of the city for centuries.
The Gothic architecture arrived in Poland in the first half of the 13th century with the arrival of the Dominican and Franciscan orders. The first elements of the new style are evident in the foundation of the Dominican Trinity church in Kraków (1226–1250), built by Bishop Iwo Odrowąż. Rebuilding of the Wrocław Cathedral, started in 1244, was another early manifestation of the Gothic style. The earliest building in Poland built entirely in the Gothic style is the chapel of St. Hedwig in Trzebnica (1268–1269), on the grounds of a Cistercian monastery.
The Golden Gate is a historic Renaissance city gate in Gdańsk, Poland. It is located within the Royal Route, the most prominent part of the historic city center and is one of its most notable tourist attractions.
Pernštejn Castle is a castle in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It lies on a rock above the village of Nedvědice and the rivers Svratka and Nedvědička, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Brno. Pernštejn came to be known as the marble castle because of the marble-like stone used to frame the doors and windows.
Gradec, Grič or Gornji Grad is a part of Zagreb, Croatia, and together with Kaptol it is the medieval nucleus of the city. It is situated on the hill of Grič. Today this neighbourhood forms part of the Gornji Grad-Medveščak district.
St. Florian's Gate or Florian Gate in Kraków, Poland, is one of the best-known Polish Gothic towers, and a focal point of Kraków's Old Town. It was built about the 14th century as a rectangular Gothic tower of "wild stone", part of the city fortifications against Tatar attack.
Ljubljana Castle is a castle complex standing on Castle Hill above downtown Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is a key landmark of the town. Originally a medieval fortress, it was probably constructed in the 11th century and rebuilt in the 12th century. It acquired its present outline with an almost complete overhaul in the 15th century, whereas the majority of the buildings date to the 16th and 17th centuries. Initially a defense structure and since the first half of the 14th century the seat of the lords of Carniola, it was since the early 19th century used for various other purposes and today is used as a major cultural venue.
Korčula is a town on the east coast of the island of Korčula, in Croatia, in the Adriatic.
The ruins of Spiš Castle is one of the largest castle sites in Central Europe. The castle is situated above the town of Spišské Podhradie and the village of Žehra that with adjacent ecclesiastical town Spišská Kapitula form components of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2009, the site was extended to include the famous altar by Master Paul of Levoča and the historic centre of Levoča with many well-preserved Renaissance buildings.
The Walls of Ston are a series of defensive stone walls, originally more than 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long, that surrounded and protected the city of Ston, in Dalmatia, part of the Republic of Ragusa, in what is now southern Croatia. Their construction was begun in 1358. On the Field Gate of the Walls there is a Latin inscription which dates from 1506. Today, it is among the longest preserved fortification systems in the world.
Stradun or Placa, whose name derives from Venetian, and means "large road" or "wide road", is the main street of Dubrovnik, Croatia. The limestone-paved pedestrian street runs some 300 metres through the Old Town, the historic part of the city surrounded by the Walls of Dubrovnik.
Tartini Square is the largest and main town square in Piran, Slovenia. It was named after violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini, of whom a monument was made in 1896.
Conwy's town walls are a medieval defensive structure around the town of Conwy in Wales. The walls were constructed between 1283 and 1287 after the foundation of Conwy by Edward I, and were designed to form an integrated system of defence alongside Conwy Castle. The walls are 1.3 km (0.81 mi) long and include 21 towers and three gatehouses. The project was completed using large quantities of labourers brought in from England; the cost of building the castle and walls together came to around £15,000, a huge sum for the period. The walls were slightly damaged during the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr in 1401, but political changes in the 16th century reduced the need to maintain such defences around the town. The fortifications were treated sympathetically during the development of the road and railway systems in Conwy during the 19th century and survived largely intact into the modern period. Today the walls form part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site administered by Cadw. Historians Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham describe the defences as "one of the most impressive walled circuits" in Europe.
The fortifications of the town of Rhodes are shaped like a defensive crescent around the medieval town and consist mostly of a fortification composed of a huge wall made of an embankment encased in stone, equipped with scarp, bastions, moat, counterscarp and glacis. The portion of fortifications facing the harbour is instead composed of a crenellated wall. On the moles, towers and defensive forts are found.
Media related to Walls of Piran at Wikimedia Commons