MUSICAL SUGGESTIONS

15 - Piazza Tartini

The Piazza Tartini adorns many postcards of Piran. Often, the panorama of the city extends from the dominant Church of S. Giorgio on the promontory to the historic city centre, represented by the Piazza Tartini located on the seafront. A little more than a hundred years ago, this place was still a small, calm inlet - a port for smaller boats and for the boats of the sailors of Piran - which at the end of the 19th century began to be modified with the extension of the external dock, the transformation of the port and the demolition of the drawbridge. The city’s reporter, Bartolomeo Tamaro, reported the testimony of a mandracchio already reduced to a stinking swamp due to the impurities resulting from poor maintenance.

In 1885, Pietro Vatta, a prominent exponent of the Vatta family, at that time the owner of the artist’s house, had the square in front - which at the time had no official name - named after the musician. As mayor of Piran he proposed backfilling the old port, but his death prevented the carrying out of the project. However, the idea was taken up again in 1894 by his successor, Dr. Domenico Fragiacomo, who entrusted the works to Pietro Petronio, an entrepreneur from Piran. 6000 wagons of material towed by horses and donkeys were transported and poured into the mandracchio. In 1895, flags were erected at the entrance to the square; the following year, with great ceremonies, the monument to Giuseppe Tartini was inaugurated. In 2009, the project to rebuild the current elliptical square in white stone was entrusted to the architect Boris Podrecca.

Info: www.portoroz.si