Regional Archives Koper, Piran Branch

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Pokrajinski arhiv Koper, Enota Piran

Savudrijska ulica 5, SI-6330 Piran-Pirano

http://www.arhiv-koper.si

arhiv.koper@gmail.com

Phone386 (0) 5 673 2840, 386 (0) 5 673 2841

Managed byRegional Archives Koper

The Piran Branch of the Regional Archives Koper was established in 1974. The Piran archives keep the oldest documents dating from the mid-12th-century period of the Venetian Republic and the oldest fully-preserved Slovenian City Statute from 1307. In October 2009 the archives moved to new premises in the town center. They provide space for exhibitions and a small reading room for the study of the archives. The archival documents can be viewed on request and it is recommendable to order materials preliminary by phone or online.

History

The Old City Archives – Archivio Civico Antico in Piran were founded in 1877 by the Municipality of Piran-Pirano and hold the oldest archival material in Slovenia, dating from 1173 onwards. In 1891 the archives ceased to operate as an independent institution and were merged with the city library. The Piran archives have repeatedly changed their premises. In 1895 they moved to the premises of today's judicial building. The archives stayed in Piran during the Second World War due to a clever decision of librarian Domenico Petroniu to place the collection under the stairways of the municipal palace, where they were walled up.

Together with the library, the city archives were moved to the City Museum (now the Maritime Museum Piran) in 1954, and a year later became an autonomous institution: the Municipal Archives Piran. The archives joined the Regional Archives of Koper in 1974 and moved to the premises of Minorite Monastery in 1975. The facility was not suitable for the archives and overcrowding continued until October 2009, when the archives finally got new premises at the place of the former Gasspar Gallery in the old centre of Piran, next to the city wall.

Collections

Among the most precious documents held in the Piran Archives, a gift act from 1173 and a document of Pope Urban III from 1187 can be named. They are the oldest in Slovenia. The copies of the oldest documents stem even from years 1036 and 1041. There is also the oldest fully-preserved Slovenian City Statute from 1307, which is famous for its legal accuracy, consistency and the municipal social care for the people. In addition, the following documents are held in the archives: 8,300 wills, around 1,800 parchment documents, letters, Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale di Venezia) documents, 170 Vicedominus books, and other valuable documents.

See also

• Regional Archives Koper
• Sergej Mašera Maritime Museum, Piran

External links

• Regional Archives Koper website