Tito Square, Koper

The finest Venetian Gothic square in Slovenia, and one used by residents rather than visitors.

Koper was Capodistria, the administrative capital of Venetian Istria, and Tito Square is what that left behind: the fifteenth-century Praetorian Palace with its crenellated facade, the Loggia opposite, the cathedral of the Assumption and its detached campanile, which can be climbed. Because Koper is a working port city rather than a resort, the square is full of local life in a way Piran’s no longer is. It is a ten-minute walk from the rail and bus station.