SLOVENIA 429Portorož 7
122 km (76 miles) SW of Ljubljana.
* 3,100. @ n Obala 16, (05) 674Strung along the sun-bathed
sweep of Piran Bay, Portorož
is Slovenia’s big gest beach
resort. Apart from the grand
Habsburg-era hotel – the
Kempinski Hotel built in
1911 – most of the modern
cafés, hotels and casinos
border ing the palm-lined
main boule vard date from the
post-World War II period.
Portorož is a popular spa
resort busy throughout the
year thanks to a warm micro-
climate and the thera peutic
qualities of the seawater.
The large cres cent beach,
with its seaside park, has
tennis and volley ball courts.Hrastovlje 8
104 km (65 miles) SW of Ljubljana.
* 120. £Located in the arid hills above
the coast, the rustic village of
Hrastovlje is home to one of
Slovenia’s most outstanding
medieval treasures. Crowning
a hillock slightly apart from
the rest of the village is the
Romanesque Holy Trinity
Church (Cerkev sv Trojice),
its interior covered from floor
to ceil ing with dazzling fres-
coes painted by local artist
John of Kastav in 1490. The
most famous of the friezes
is the Dance of Death on the
south ern wall, in which a
group of skele tons leads
people old and young, rich
and poor alike, towards the
grave. Many other scenes fea-
ture stories from the Bible. The
main characters are clad in
15th-century attire, prov iding
an insight into the lifestyle of
late-medieval Slovenia.R Holy Trinity Church
Hrastovlje 6275. Tel (05) 664
6403 (Koper Tourist Office).
# 8am–noon & 1–5pm daily,
call in advance. &(Benečanka hiša), with delicate
Gothic win dows and balus-
traded balconies. Nearby,
St Peter’s Church (Cerkev sv
Petra) contains a 14th-century
cruci fix that shows Jesus on a
fork-shaped cross, thought to
symbolize the Tree of Life.
Tucked away in a small plaza
behind the church, Tartini
House (Tartinijeva hiša) hon-
ours the composer with a
collection of heir looms, includ-
ing one of his violins. Uphill
from the square, narrow streets
wind towards St George’s
Cathedral (Stolna cerkev sv
Jurja), a single-nave structure
paired with a Venetian-style
campa nile. The small Parish
Museum (Župnijski muzej)
displays the church silver ware,
including an 18th-century
statuette of St George studded
with semi-precious stones.
To the west of Tartini Square,
the Aquarium (Akvarij) has
a selection of fish and
crustaceans indi genous to the
Adriatic Sea. On the oppo site
side of the harbour, the Sergej
Mašera Maritime Museum
(Pomorski muzej Sergaj
Mašera) recounts the history of
Piran as a trading town.
E Tartini House
Tartinijev trg. Tel (05) 663 3570.
# Jun–Aug: 9am–noon & 6–9pm
daily; Sep–May: 11am–noon &
5–6pm daily. &
Aquarium
Kidričevo nabrežje 4. Tel (05) 673
mid-Jun to mid-Sep: 9am–
10pm daily; mid-Sep to mid-Jun:
10am–noon & 2–7pm daily. &
E Sergej Mašera Maritime
Museum
Cankarjevo nabrežje 4. Tel (05)
671 0040. # Sep–Jun: Tue–
Sun 9am–5pm; Jul–Aug: Tue–
Sun 9am–noon & 5–9pm.
http://www.pommuz-pi.si
Multistorey hotels along the tree-
lined waterfront in Piran
Panoramic view of the coastal town of Piran, centred on the Tartini Square
The stone tower and walls of Holy
Trinity Church, Hrastovlje