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Ashleigh Morris in No. 77, with Andrew Winchester in No. 87 tucked in behind, competing in the early rounds of the 2015 Scottish BMW Compact Cup at Knockhill Racing Circuit.
This was the second time I had visited St Vedast, the first time I just had my compact camera, this time I was fully tooled up.
St Vedast seems to me, like a quire without a church, the pews decked out like misericords, with the lamps for illuminating hymnsheets, has all the appearances of a quire. Then there is the black and white marble floor, the fantastic ceiling, all overlooked by a large gilded organ. Fnar.
It was tenty past nine, and I had the church to myself, whilst a few yards away outside, the rush hour traffic stacked up. Inside, all was peace and quiet.
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The Parish of St Vedast is known from the 12th century, and the church is traditionally claimed to have been established by 1170.
It has been altered, enlarged and restored many times and probably rebuilt at least twice, the last time by Christopher Wren, after the Great Fire of London in 1666. Having been completely burnt out during the Blitz of World War II, the church was restored under the direction of its Rector, Canon Mortlock, and a very influential Parochial Church Council that included Poet Laureate John Betjeman and master organ builder, Noel Mander.
The church is dedicated to a French saint, little known in Britain, who was Bishop of Arras in northern Gaul around the turn of the 6th century.
Vedast, who was called in Latin, Vedastus; in Norman, Vaast; in Walloon, Waast; and in French, GastSaint Vedast Vaast Vastes Fosteron, helped to restore the Christian Church in the region after decades of destruction by invading tribes during the late Roman empire and to convert Clovis, the Frankish king. Remembered for his charity, meekness and patience, he is buried at Arras cathedral.
His name in England has been corrupted from St Vaast, by way of Vastes, Fastes, Faster, Fauster and Forster to Foster, the name of the lane at the front of the church, and the reason that the official designation of the church is St Vedast-alias-Foster. St Vedast was venerated in particular by the Augustinian priors in the 12th century, and they may be responsible for the foundation of the few churches dedicated to him. Only one other church in England is currently dedicated to St Vedast, in Tathwell, Lincolnshire, a third parish in Norwich now being remembered only in a street name.
Some of the works and legends of St Vedast are celebrated in the stained glass windows of the church.
It has been suggested that the original church of St Vedast may have been founded by the Flemish community in London in the 12th or 13th century, possibly by a Flemish ancestor of Ralph d’Arras, who was the Sheriff of London in 1276.
The first church was probably quite small, but additions were made through the centuries. A chapel dedicated to St Dunstan was added in the 15th century, and other altars were added in the 16th century to Mary and to St Nicholas. By 1603, Stow in his Survey of London described St Vedast as ‘a fair church, lately rebuilt’.
Although no complete or accurate account survives for this early church, evidence of its construction can still be seen in the south wall of the church externally. Evidence of earlier openings for doors and windows, as well as the medieval stonework has been examined by archaeological survey and reported in London Archaeologist.
In 1614, St Vedast was enlarged by 20 feet thanks to a gift from the adjacent Saddlers’ company, and ‘beautified’ according to Stow’s Survey.
In 1635 the then Rector, James Batty, petitioned the Archbishop that a rail might be set up around the communion table as there are many “disorders and undecencies” among the parishioners when receiving the Blessed Sacrament. For his loyalty to King Charles I, Batty was “sequestered, plundered, forced to flee, and died” in 1642.
How the church may have suffered during the Civil Wars of the mid 17th century is unrecorded, but given that the Parliamentarians kept horses stabled in the chancel of nearby St Paul’s Cathedral, it is likely to have been badly affected. The current Rectors’ Board lists the years between 1643 and 1661 as under Foulke Bellers, a ‘Commonwealth Intruder’.
The disastrous Great Fire that swept through the City in September 1666 reached St Vedast on the third day. Afterwards, it was thought that although the roof, pews, pulpit and other fittings had been destroyed, the church could be repaired satisfactorily. It was therefore omitted from the original list of 50 churches to be rebuilt by Christopher Wren. B
y the 1690s, however, structural flaws must have become significant enough that rebuilding was begun. Records of those responsible for the detailed design and construction of the church are somewhat sketchy. Other than Wren, it is possible that Robert Hooke and/or Nicholas Hawksmoor were involved (the steeple is said to be particularly Hawksmoor-like), and master mason Edward Strong had been paid £3106:14:7 by the time the church was completed in 1699. He was responsible for the cherubs that grace the west front and bell tower, and for the dove in glory sculpture now situated at the east end of the south aisle.
Many of the minor changes that affected the church through the 18th century may not have been recorded, but we know that an organ was installed in 1773, and that heating was first introduced in 1790 – open stoves that were to be replaced in 1807 by a more satisfactory double fronted one.
Thomas Pelham Dale, Rector from 1847 to 1882, fell foul of the Public Worship Regulations Act of 1874 and was prosecuted for “ritualistic practices”. Although he gave up the practices in question for a time, he was brought before a court in 1880 and, for contempt, sent to Holloway prison.
The greatest change to the building in the 19th century was perhaps to the fenestration. A square headed window was removed in 1848 from the east end, along with the Dove in Glory sculpture by Strong above it. Twelve new stained glass windows were introduced in 1884, making the church much darker. Internal adjustments to pews, screens, pulpit and altar rails were made shortly afterwards.
On 29th December 1940, London was attacked by German air raids that dropped some 24,000 high explosive bombs and 100,000 incendiaries, mostly in the City. Although the Cathedral itself survived thanks to hundreds of volunteer firefighters, much of the area around St Paul’s was utterly destroyed.
As after the Great Fire of 1666, St Vedast was gutted and left a burnt out shell, with roof, pews, pulpit and fittings all ruined. As the structure of the church and its tower were deemed to be safe, plans to restore the church began in 1947. The work itself only started in 1953, under the auspices of its new Rector, Canon Mortlock, and the architect Stephen Dykes Bower. The post war Parochial Church Council that oversaw the work included Poet Laureate and conservation champion John Betjeman and the great organ builder Noel Mander.
To make the church a more appropriate layout for smaller 20th century congregations, Dykes Bower introduced collegiate style seating, and screened off the south aisle. New false walls were constructed within the east and south walls to make the church more rectangular, enabling a strong black and white patterned terrazzo floor to be laid. The ceiling was constructed to a pattern near that of the Wren original and finished with gold leaf and aluminium, donated by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.
An adjacent plot along Foster Lane to the north, formerly the location of the Fountain pub, was purchased for the construction of a new Rectory, and a small secluded courtyard built between this Rectory and the former parish school (now the parish hall of St Vedast).
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The original church of St Vedast was founded before 1308 and was extensively repaired in the seventeenth century.[2]
Although the church was not completely destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666,[3] it was restored by 1662 on parochial initiative. However, the church required substantial reconstruction by the office of Sir Christopher Wren between 1695 and 1701, with only small parts of the older building surviving to be incorporated,[3] most noticeably parts of the medieval fabric in the south wall which were revealed by cleaning in 1992–3. The three-tier spire, considered one of the most baroque of all the City spires, was added in 1709–12[4] at a cost of £2958, possibly to the designs of Nicholas Hawksmoor, whose correspondence with the churchwardens survives. The organ was built by Renatus Harris in 1731, originally for St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange.
Wren's church was gutted a second time by firebombs during the London blitz([5]) of 1940 and 1941.[6] A proposal by Sir Hugh Casson to leave this and several other ruins as a war memorial was not implemented. The post-war restoration within the old walls was undertaken by Stephen Dykes Bower. He re-ordered the interior in a collegiate chapel style with seating down each side with a side chapel in the former South aisle, and squared the old walls which were not rectangular in plan so that the altar now faces the nave squarely. He made an almost imperceptible taper in the pews and floor pattern, to give a false perspective towards the altar, making the church look longer than it is. The architect also designed the richly decorated 17th-century-style plaster ceiling. He reused fittings from other destroyed City churches, including the richly carved pulpit from All Hallows Bread Street and the font and cover from St Anne and St Agnes. Dykes Bower commissioned the Whitefriars glass windows in the East End, showing scenes from the life of St Vedast. These windows are largely opaque to hide tall buildings behind and to disguise the fact that the East wall is a wedge in plan. The work was completed in 1962. An aumbry by the south chapel altar is by Bernard Merry and the organ is 1955 by Noel Mander, in the re-used 1731 Harris case.
Dykes Bower also built a small Parish Room to the North East of the church in 17th-century style and a Georgian-style rectory, adjacent to the church, on Foster Lane in 1959 – in the first floor room of which is an important mural by Hans Feibusch on the subject of Jacob and the Angel. A niche in the internal courtyard of the building contains a carved stone head[who?] by sculptor Jacob Epstein.[7]
The church is noted for its small but lively baroque steeple, its small secluded courtyard, stained glass, and a richly-decorated ceiling. It also has a set of six bells, cast in 1960, that are widely regarded[by whom?] as being the finest sounding six in London.[8]
The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.[9] The rectory was listed as a Grade II building on 15 July 1998.
Prod. 1985-1991 (Arsenal)
Sn. 874353 & 8845792
Lens: MC Korsar 2,8/35mm
Shutter: 4s – 1/500
It is a close copy of the Minox 35 EL that was introduced in 1973.
The new BMW 1 Series.
Unmistakably sporty, with a higher quality feel and greater presence.
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Highly efficient three-, four- and six-cylinder power units.
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combined: 126 – 116 g/km)* – to the BMW M140i M Performance model,
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120 – 114 g/km*.
Intelligent all-wheel drive for optimum power transmission.
The BMW M140i, BMW 118d and BMW 120d can be specified with
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turning into bends.
Two new elite athletes from BMW M GmbH: the M140i andM140i xDrive.
The sportiest member of the BMW 1 Series range also boasts a new look. To
mark the new model year, the BMW M140i M Performance model is also
available in M140i Edition Shadow trim. Black inserts are added to the
standard LED headlights and the kidney grille surround is painted black. The
darkened rear light assemblies lend further impact to the car’s sporting aura,
* Fuel consumption figures based on the EU test cycle, may vary depending on the tyre format specified.
as do the standard 18-inch light-alloy wheels, which are now available for the
first time in Style 436 M Orbit Grey and Style 719 M Jet Black or Bicolour Jet
Black, to go with the previously available Ferric Grey (Style 436 M). The
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mixed-size tyres as standard, with dimensions of 225/40 at the front and
245/35 at the rear.
The BMW M140i is powered by a three-litre straight-six engine complete with
direct injection, M Performance TwinPower Turbo technology with twin-scroll
turbocharging, fully variable valve timing (VALVETRONIC) and Double-
VANOS variable camshaft control. This all combines to give the BMW M140i
an output of 250 kW/340 hp and maximum torque of 500 Newton metres
(369 lb-ft), which can be summoned from as low down as 1,520 rpm and
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4.8 seconds, while top speed is electronically limited to 250 km/h (155 mph).
When the optional eight-speed Steptronic Sport transmission is specified, the
BMW M140i reaches the 100 km/h (62 mph) mark from rest in an even
quicker 4.6 seconds (fuel consumption combined: 7.1 l/100 km
[39.8 mpg imp]; CO2 emissions combined: 163 g/km)*. Performance is even
more remarkable in the BMW M140i xDrive versions, thanks to the presence
of intelligent all-wheel drive. Equipped with the eight-speed Steptronic Sport
transmission as standard, the M140i xDrive surges from 0 to 100 km/h
(62 mph) in 4.4 seconds, while returning combined fuel consumption of
7.4 l/100 km (38.2 mpg imp) and CO2 emissions of 169 g/km*.
Variable sport steering adds to the impression of exceptional agility at the
wheel of the BMW M140i. It comes with electromechanical power assistance
and adapts the steering angle of the front wheels to the prevailing driving
situation. This allows lightning-fast evasive manoeuvres but also produces a
sensation of excellent directional and straight-line stability in motorway driving.
The M Sport suspension, M Sport braking system and shorter throw for the
six-speed manual gearshift have all been perfectly matched to the might of
the six-cylinder in-line engine, as have high-performance tyres designed to
ensure that acceleration and braking force are transmitted to the road to
optimum effect. The Driving Experience Control switch in the BMW M140i
features the same modes included in all models in the range, such as
Comfort, Sport and ECO PRO, but also adds the ultra-dynamic Sport+ mode.
In this setting, the configuration of the Dynamic Stability Control system
allows the driver to perform controlled drifts.
Slowenien - Piran
Blue hour after sunset
Blaue Stunde nach Sonnenuntergang
Piran (Slovene pronunciation: [piˈɾáːn]; Italian: Pirano [piˈraːno]) 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. A bilingual city, with population speaking both Slovene and Italian, Piran 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.
History
In the pre-Roman era, the hills in the Piran area were inhabited by Illyrian Histri tribes who were farmers, hunters and fishermen. They were also pirates who disrupted Roman trade in the northern Adriatic.
The Piran peninsula was incorporated into the Roman Empire in 178 and 177 BC and settled in the following years with rural homes (villae rusticae).
The decline of the Roman Empire, from the 5th century AD onward, and incursions by the Avars and Slavs at the end of the 6th century, prompted the Roman population to withdraw into easily defensible locations such as islands or peninsulas. This started local urbanisation and by the 7th century, under Byzantine rule, Piran had become heavily fortified. Despite the defences, the Franks conquered Istria in 788 and Slavs settled in the region. By 952, Piran had become a part of the Holy Roman Empire.
The earliest reliable records of the area are in the 7th century work Cosmographia by an anonymous cleric of Ravenna. The name of the town most probably originates from the Greek pyrrhos, which means 'red', because of the reddish flysch stones commonly found in the town's area. Some historians also refer it to pyros, meaning 'fire', due to ancient lighthouses which were supposed to be on the edge of the marina.
From 1283 to 1797, the town became part of the Republic of Venice, where it was governed in a semi-autonomous way, with a council of local noblemen assisting the Venetian delegate. Several enemy (e.g. from the Republic of Genoa) and pirate assaults were repelled during the late Middle Ages; a great pestilence hit the town in 1558, killing about two thirds of the population. The last decades of Venetian rule were marked by decadence, due to the competition with the nearby Austrian port town of Trieste.
The town was annexed to the Austrian Empire in 1797; but during the years from 1806 to 1814, it was ceded to the Napoleonic Empire. On 22 February 1812, the Battle of Pirano was fought between a British and a French ship of the line in the vicinity of Piran. This was a minor battle of the Adriatic campaign of the Napoleonic Wars.
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Piran was an Austro-Hungarian town with over 15,000 inhabitants, roughly the same size as nearby Koper. Around 80% of the population was ethnically and culturally Italian, with a Slovene minority of around 15%. It was a flourishing market and spa town with good transport connections. The first trolleybus line in the Balkans was introduced to public service on 24 October 1909 in Piran. In 1912, it was replaced by a tramway that operated on the same route till 1953.
After the First World War, together with Trieste and all Istria, the town was ceded to Italy. There were no particular events in those years, until Italy entered the Second World War in 1940. With the defeat of the Axis powers and the rise of Tito's rule, Piran was assigned to the Free Territory of Trieste, Zone B, under Yugoslavian administration, changing the official name in "Piran". The town was annexed to Yugoslavia in 1954, according to the London Memorandum signed together with Italy. A significant part of Piran's population chose to emigrate to Italy or abroad in the final phase of the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus, rather than stay in socialist Yugoslavia. The annexation to Yugoslavia was finally ratified with the Osimo Treaty in 1975, with the municipality becoming part of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia. Until the mid-20th century, Italian was the dominant language, but it was replaced by Slovene following the Istrian exodus. Since 1991, Piran has been part of independent Slovenia.
On 24 October 2010, Slovenia became the first country of former communist Europe to elect a black mayor. The physician Peter Bossman, who came from Ghana in the late 1970s, was elected the Mayor of Piran. He officially took office at the first constitutional meeting of the Municipal Council on 12 November 2010, succeeding Tomaž Gantar. He represents the Social Democrats.
The territorial claims of Croatia and Slovenia in the Gulf of Piran remain an important matter of debate in the Croatia–Slovenia border disputes that began after the dissolution of Yugoslavia.
Culture and education
Piran is the birthplace of the Italian[ composer and violinist Giuseppe Tartini, who played an important role in shaping its cultural heritage. The town's main square, Tartini Square (Slovene: Tartinijev trg, Italian: Piazza Tartini), is named after him. In 1892, the 200th anniversary of his birth, a monument to Tartini was erected in Piran. Venetian artist Antonio Dal Zotto was commissioned to create a larger-than-life bronze statue, which was mounted on its pedestal in 1896. The statue dominates the square, overlooked by the Cathedral of Saint George. The painter Cesare Dell'Acqua was also born in Piran.
Piran is the seat of the Euro-Mediterranean University of Slovenia (EMUNI), founded in 2008 as one of the cultural projects of the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean. The Piran Coastal Galleries, a public institution encompassing a group of six public contemporary art galleries, is based in Piran.
Cultural events
Musical evenings have taken place for decades in the Greyfriars Franciscan monastery's atrium, one of the most beautiful cloister atriums in the Slovenian Littoral, which has good acoustics.
The municipality's festival is 15 October, which celebrates the foundation of the first Slovenian partisan naval detachment, named Koper, in 1944.
Geography and climate
Piran is located at the tip of the Piran peninsula, part of the Gulf of Trieste.
To the east of the town, along the northern coastline (in the direction to Strunjan) there is a small tourist settlement named Fiesa. Piran and Fiesa are connected by a promenade along the beach. Piran has a humid subtropical climate with warm summers and cool rainy winters. Snow is rare (usually 3 days per year, almost always in traces). There are 22 days a year with maximum temperatures of 30 °C (86 °F) or higher; on one day a year the temperature does not exceed 0 °C (32 °F). Fog appears about 4 days per year, mainly in winter.
Demographics
According to the Austrian language census of 1910, there were 7,379 inhabitants in the town proper, 95.97% Italians and 0.09% Slovenes. In 1945, the town proper had 5,035 inhabitants, 91.32% Italian and 8.54% Slovene speakers. After World War II, when Piran became a part of Yugoslavia, there was an exodus of the Italian-speakers from the region. They were replaced by Slovene settlers, both from other areas of Slovenian Istria and from interior areas of the country. In 1956 there were 3.574 inhabitants, 67.6% Slovene and 15.5% Italian.
Monuments
Piran was heavily influenced by the Venetian Republic and Austria-Hungary, therefore the monuments differ greatly from those in inner parts of Slovenia. The Piran town walls were constructed to protect the town from Ottoman incursions; many parts of the town walls from different eras remain, and are of interest to tourists. In the middle of the town is the Tartini Square, with a monument in memory of Giuseppe Tartini. Nearby are located various important buildings, such as Tartini’s house, first mentioned in 1384 and one of the oldest in town, the Municipal Palace, Loggia and Benečanka, among others. On the hill above the town is the biggest and most important church, the Saint George's Church, with a Franciscan monastery nearby.
Communications and transport
There is an international airport and a marina in the vicinity of the town. The medium-wave transmitter of Radio Koper is in Piran. It transmits on 1170 kHz and has a 123.6-metre-tall guyed mast with cage antenna. The town is connected with Koper, Izola, Portorož (the location of the airport), Sečovlje and Lucija by a cheap bus line. The lines of other coastal settlements operate mostly during the tourist season.
The first trolleybus line in Slovenia entered public service on 24 October 1909 in Piran, then part of Austria-Hungary. It ran from Tartini Square along the coast and the shipyard to Portorož and Lucija. The town authorities bought five trolleybuses manufactured by Austrian company Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. In 1912, it was replaced by a tram system that operated until 1953, when it was superseded by buses.
Sports
Pod Obzidjem Stadium (Slovene: Stadion pod obzidjem) is a multi-purpose stadium in Piran. It is used for football matches and is the home ground of football team NK Portorož Piran. The stadium currently holds 750 spectators, 500 of them can be seated.
(Wikipedia)
Die Stadt Piran, italienisch: Pirano ist der Hauptort der aus elf Ortschaften bestehenden Gemeinde Piran in Slowenien. Piran liegt im äußersten Südwesten des Landes auf einer Halbinsel am Adriatischen Meer. Mit ihrer Lage, ihrer Altstadt und venezianischen Architektur ist die Stadt an der Slowenischen Riviera eines der bekanntesten Touristenzentren des Landes.
Name der Stadt
Der Stadtname stammt wohl vom griechischen Wort pyros für Feuer. Der Legende nach soll auf der Landzunge Punta, wo der Ort errichtet wurde, anstelle eines Leuchtturmes ein Feuer den Schiffen den Weg zur griechischen Kolonie Aegida (Koper) gewiesen haben. Piranum wird im 7. Jahrhundert erstmals schriftlich erwähnt.
Geschichte
In den Jahren 177/178 v. Chr. wurde die istrische Halbinsel von den Römern erobert. In dieser Zeit begann die allmähliche Kolonisierung und Romanisierung des Gebietes. Dadurch kam es in der Gegend des heutigen Piran zu vereinzelten Streusiedlungen. Unter byzantinischer Herrschaft begann im 7. Jahrhundert mit einer befestigten Siedlung die urbane Entwicklung von Piran. 788 wurde Istrien durch die Franken besetzt und politisch in die Mark von Friaul eingegliedert. Nach der Aufteilung des fränkischen Kaiserreiches wurde die Grafschaft Istrien 843 ins Italienische Königreich eingegliedert und im Jahre 952 dem Heiligen Römischen Reich bzw. in diesem dem Herzogtum Bayern einverleibt.
In der zweiten Hälfte des 13. Jahrhunderts begann Venedig mit der Eroberung istrischer Städte und besetzte im Jahr 1283 auch Piran. 1692 wurde in Piran der Geiger und Komponist Giuseppe Tartini geboren. Ihm zu Ehren wurde 1894 der Tartiniplatz benannt.
1809 bis 1813 gehörte Piran kurz zu den Illyrischen Provinzen Napoleons. Danach kam es wieder zur Habsburgermonarchie. Das kaiserliche Österreich hatte hier die Republik Venedig beerbt und brachte im 19. Jahrhundert Piran eine neue Zeit des Wohlstands. Dazu haben vor allem die Salinen beigetragen, da Österreich mit der Wiederbelebung der Salzproduktion die Salinen von Sečovlje auf eine Produktion von 40.000 Tonnen jährlich aufstockte.
Nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg fiel Istrien mit dem Vertrag von Rapallo 1920 an den Kriegssieger Italien, der Istrien seit November 1918 besetzt hatte. Es folgte eine strenge Italianisierungspolitik, und die slowenische Sprache wurde in der Öffentlichkeit verboten.
Das faschistische Italien war im Zweiten Weltkrieg zunächst mit dem Deutschen Reich verbündet. Im September 1943 hatte eine neue italienische Regierung jedoch den Waffenstillstand von Cassibile mit den Alliierten geschlossen. Daraufhin besetzten Wehrmachts- und SS-Einheiten das ganze Land, so auch Istrien. Nach dem Krieg war die Region um Triest wieder zwischen Italien und Jugoslawien umstritten. Das Gebiet wurde daher unter UN-Verwaltung in zwei Zonen aufgeteilt. Piran gehörte dabei der südlichen Zone B an, die den westlichen Teil von Istrien bis zur Mirna umfasste. Erst im Londoner Abkommen von 1954 wurde das Freie Territorium Triest aufgelöst und die Zone B offiziell Jugoslawien angegliedert. Die meisten Italiener verließen daraufhin die Stadt.
Sehenswürdigkeiten
An der westlichen Spitze der Landzunge befindet sich die burgartig wirkende Kirche Sv. Klementa (St. Clementa), die als Wahrzeichen der Stadt gilt.
Etwa 100 Meter östlich des Tartiniplatzes steht ein Franziskanerkloster, das im Sommer für Konzerte genutzt wird und in dessen Untergeschoss eine Gemäldesammlung venezianischer Maler zu sehen ist.
Auf der nördlichen Klippe der Halbinsel überragt die Kathedrale Sv. Jurij (St. Georg) die Stadt, die 1637 errichtet wurde. Der Kirchturm der Kathedrale ist dem venezianischen Markusturm nachempfunden. Die Kirchturmspitze schmückt eine schwerttragende Statue des Stadtpatrons Sankt Georg. Die Figur dreht sich entsprechend der Windrichtung und dient den Bürgern der Stadt somit als Wetterfahne.
Altstadt
Die Altstadt mit ihren engen Gassen erstreckt sich auf einer etwa einen Kilometer langen, spitz zulaufenden Landzunge in ost-westlicher Richtung. Zur Landseite hin wird sie durch eine teilweise erhaltene historische Verteidigungsanlage mit Wehrgängen und -türmen abgegrenzt.
Im Stadtkern im italienisch-venezianischen Stil gibt es einige Baudenkmäler und Aussichtspunkte. Die südliche Strandpromenade, vom kleinen Hafen bis zur Spitze der Landzunge, ist gesäumt von zahlreichen Restaurants für das touristische Publikum.
Tartiniplatz
Zentrum des städtischen Lebens ist der restaurierte Tartinijev trg (it. Piazza Tartini, dt. Tartiniplatz). Er entstand im Jahr 1894, als der damals an dieser Stelle liegende, zu klein gewordene und als Müllkippe verwendete Hafen endgültig zugeschüttet wurde. Zentral auf dem Platz steht eine vom venezianischen Künstler Antonio Dal Zotto geschaffene überlebensgroße Bronzestatue des namensgebenden Komponisten Giuseppe Tartini, die anlässlich dessen 200. Geburtstages am 2. August 1896 enthüllt wurde.
Zum 300. Geburtstag des Komponisten wurde eine Neugestaltung des Platzes in Auftrag gegeben. Die vom Architekten Boris Podrecca gelegte Ellipse aus weißem Stein soll an den Wendeplatz der elektrischen Straßenbahn (1912–1953) sowie an den Fischerhafen erinnern, der das städtische Leben früher an diesem Ort prägte.
Zum Ensemble des Platzes gehören das klassizistische Rathaus an der Nordseite und rechts davon ein gotisches Patrizierhaus. Das Benečanka (Venezianerhaus) wurde von einem reichen venezianischen Kaufmann für seine in Piran lebende Geliebte gebaut. Die Hausecke gibt das Antlitz der Geliebten wieder. Die zum Tartiniplatz gerichtete Fassade enthält ein Relief mit der italienischen Aufschrift lassa pur dir („Lass sie reden“).
Museen
Am Hafen der Altstadt sind drei Museen rund um das Thema Meer zu besichtigen. Das Aquarium (Akvarij Piran) unter der Adresse Kidriĉevo nabrežje 4 zeigt die Meeresfauna der Adria. Das Pomorski muzej (Meeresmuseum) im Gabrielli-Palast in der Cankarjevo nabrežje 3 präsentiert die wirtschaftliche Nutzung des Meeres (Fischerei, slowenische Seefahrt, Meersalzgewinnung). Das Muzej podvodnih dejavnosti (Museum für Unterwasseraktivitäten) in der Župančičeva 24 beschäftigt sich thematisch mit dem Tauchen und zeigt beispielsweise Schiffswracks.
Landschaft
Küstenwanderweg („Uferpromenade“) mit interessanten Gesteinsschichtungen an den Steilwänden von Piran zum See und Strand von Fiesa im Norden der Halbinsel.
Salinen von Strunjan und von Sečovlje
Schutzpatron
Der Schutzheilige der Stadt Piran ist Sankt Georg. Dies findet sich wieder im blau umrahmten roten Georgskreuz des Stadtwappens. Weiterhin zeigt sich eine Darstellung des Drachentöters mit einem Schwert auf der Spitze des Kirchturms der Stadtkirche St. Georg.
(Wikipedia)
Engineering of the compact fluorescent light bulbs
Canadian federal government has adopted a national standard for lighting efficiency that came into effect in 2014. Most, if not all conventional, incandescent light bulbs do not meet the required performance level. The objective was to make sure...
Another one from the scratched and abused 400S film (left loose in a film changing bag a few weeks after refusing to spool). Woof woof, husky dog wants to see the 50p camera closer!
Olympus XA2 (50p compact camera)
Agfa Gevaert 400S 35mm film
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