Praetorian Palace
The Praetorian Palace (Template:Lang-sl, Template:Lang-it) is a 14th-century Venetian Gothic palace in the city of Koper, in southwest Slovenia. Located on the south side of the city's central Tito Square (at Titov trg 3), it houses the Koper city government and a wedding hall. It is considered one of the city's architectural landmarks.[1]
History
The first city palace on the site dated from 1254, while the square it was situated on (then the "Platei Comunis") took shape around 1268/69. Work on a new palace began after a major revolt in 1348, but the elements completed by 1380 were destroyed by a Genovese raid that sacked and burned the city in that year. The current structure dates from the mid-15th century, having been begun in 1452/53.
The left wing and the portico leading from the square to the colorful Calegaria Street (Čevljarska ulica, "Cobblers' Street") were the first to be completed, while the right wing dates from the 1480s. In 1505, the Porto del Corte was added; the renaissance gateway supported a small terrace and connected the Praetorian Palace with the Foresteria.
The external staircase facing Tito Square was completed in 1447. In 1481, Giovanni Vitturi replaced the peaked gothic windows with semicircular renaissance ones. The arms of the city governors on the facade attest to the fact that the balustrade was not completed until the beginning of the 16th century. The center of the crenellated portico features a statue of Justice.[2]
The main facade took its present shape in 1664, when a thorough renovation rearranged the numerous plaques and arms set into it. Additional such ornaments are fixed into the palace's Čevljarska Street wall, testifying to its status at the time when it served as the seat of the city podestà (a joint civil and military authority), the Captaincy, and the Grand Council (an assembly of the city's nobility).
The fall of the Venetian Republic to Napoleon in 1797 caused the palace to lose much of its importance, as the deliberative bodies that has emloyed it were now gone. During the 19th centuy, Austrian authorities moved the seat of the mayoralty to the Armerija Palace. Post-WWI efforts by Italy to resore it as the municipal seat came to nothing. The condition of the palace continued to decay until 1968/1969, when iy was restored, and a restaurant called "Capris" was opened in the ground floor. A more extensive 800 million SIT renovation begun in 1991, taking ten years. After its completion in May of 2001, the palace resumed its historic role as city hall, as the offices of the mayor and the municipal council of Koper were relocated to it.
References
