I'm not "kid"ding - goat island really is worth a visit! (Koper)

Member Name: fizzywizzy

Product:	Koper
Date:	09/12/08 (330 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting old town, Istrian Cellar restaurant

Disadvantages: Not many restaurants, not much to do other than look

On my occasional visits to the Slovenian coast I had always avoided the town of Koper. I had acquired - from where I do not know - an impression that the town was not worth seeing, that the docks made it ugly and that it was essentially the town that serviced the prettier parts of the coast. This notion might have come partly from the fact that the bus and train station are situated on the edge of town and that a collection of car dealerships, large supermarket complexes and a fair bit of wasteground don't make for an inspiring introduction.

This September while staying in nearby Izola, I spotted a booklet in the tourist information office that featured a photograph of a dramatic Venetian style-building on the front cover. I picked up the booklet and stuffed it into my bag along with a handful of others and it was not until several days later that I discovered it again. It turned out that this exciting building was in Koper and, what's more, Koper appeared to have a charming old town crammed with interesting sights. We resolved to visit that day and made the fifteen minute journey from Izola by bus.

We took the Ljubljana bound bus that had come from Croatia and this meant that we were dropped at the bus station. On our return we took a local bus from the bus station when we might have saved our tired feet the walk and picked it up at one of the stops in the town centre.The train journey from the capital takes approximately two hours and Koper is the end of the line.

Some Koper history

Like all of Slovenia, Koper has had a chequered history, having been under the rule of various empires over the last two thousand years. Like nearby Izola, Koper was actually once an island at which time it was called "kozji otok" - goat island - or "Insula Caprea" as it was know to the Romans. In the thirteenth century Koper fell under the control of the Venetians who called it Capodistria (the regional radio station is Radio Capodistria), and in 1879 Koper became part of the Austrian Empire. A good number of attractive buildings still remain from the Venetian days and in general the town has a rather Italian feel, although It also feels a little Croatian too. In the nineteenth century the channels separating the island from the mainland were filled and Koper was an island no more. Koper is officially bilingual (Slovene and Italian - although you'll see fair bit of Croatian too)

Koper is Slovenia's only cargo port and might have been bigger and more important had the nearby cities of Rijeka (now in Croatia) and Trieste (now in Italy) not been granted free port status; Koper began to decline when this happened and has never recovered.

What to see in Koper

Historically Koper had twelve gates, of which only one still stands. As luck would have it, that's the way we found to enter the Old Town. The Old Town occupies the higher part of town and the streets are quite steep, some are cobbled and some are quite slippery - if you have been to Split or Dubrovnik you will know how dangerous Istrian stone can be. Passing through the gate you enter one of the Old Town's large attractive squares which looks as if it was once home to a market place but is now fairly quiet apart from the handful of pavement cafes.

The most impressive of the squares is Titov trg where you'll find the almost toy town-like Venetian-style Praetorian Palace, the City Tower and the Gothic Renaissance cathedral, the biggest in the country. Our first port of call was the city tower that stands alongside the cathedral. For a couple of Euro we climbed the tower, past the bells and up onto the two viewing platforms to take in the views of the city and beyond; it's an excellent way to orientate yourself and there aren't as many steps as you'd expect.

Directly opposite the Praetorian Palace is the Loggia cafe which is housed in a wonderful building, but more fun is the place unner the Praetorian Palace where the elderly men of Koper like to meet to play cards or put the world to rights. In a colonnaded recess, this is a cool and shady spot to get some refreshment away from the glare of the sun which can be quite strong on sunny days as it reflects off the pale stone. The Praetorian Palace itself is free to visit and you can have a guided tour (also free) but we arrived too early on Sunday morning for that. The palace is still used for local government and only a section can be visited as the rest is in use. As you pass through the loggia you can see a small opening on the side wall of the Praetorian Palace which was where citizens could post anonymous messages for the Mayor; the Venetian's called it a "bocca del leone" (a lion's mouth).

Unfortunately we did not equip ourselves with any literature to help us with the historical details on our trip though this turned out to be a relaxing way to take in the sights and the general ambience of the town without feeling too pressured to see particular things. There are some obviously striking and important buildings but what I liked best were the little lanes off the squares that contained painted cottages with well-tended windows boxes of trailing flowers, and the tiny little chapels hidden away in dark alleys, the altars and icons gleaming behind wrought iron gates decorated with elaborate curlicues.

There is no beach at Koper - nor any other part of the Slovene coast - but there is a purpose built water park where you can hire sun loungers and swim from a jetty; there is a charge for this, however, and the facility is used mainly by families while most adult swimmers merely leaving their clothes by a low wall next to the sea further along the coast and swimming from the rocks. It's entirely safe to do with no risk of anyone stealing your belongings; in fact the whole way between Koper and the other resorts you will see piles of clothes on the pavement and a little head bobbing around in the sea!

Eating and drinking in Koper

While there are plenty of decent cafes for a beer or a coffee, there aren't so many really good eating places in Koper. There certainly aren't the excellent seafood places you find in Piran or Izola. We picked the best of the few eating places in the centre; "Istrska klet" means "Istrian cellar" and is a traditional Croatian restaurant serving great value hearty dishes. Koper is a good place for ice cream and there is one ice cream parlour in particular that is worth stopping at, just opposite the leisure harbour (as opposed to the cargo port).

I wouldn't really recommend staying in Koper though there is a handful of small hotels. It would be much better to stay further along the coast and just visit for the day. In spite of the wonderful buildings in Koper there are relatively few tourists and even in the height of summer it doesn't get crowded. It's also possible to visit from the capital but I would suggest making an early start in order to see as much as possible.

While the old town is crammed full of interesting and beautiful buildings there's relatively little to actually DO other than stroll and enjoy the sights. I would recommend a visit for people who haven't been before, but I don't think I'll be hurrying back to Koper in the future.

Summary: Worth a day trip but no longer