Pokrajinski muzej Koper

About the museum

The initiative to found the Koper museum came in October 1910, when a committee was formed to establish the Mestni muzej za zgodovino in umetnost (Municipal Museum of History and Art). The museum officially began on 18 March 1911, when the municipal council confirmed its statute. At first it had two rooms in the former convent of St Clare; after the First World War the municipality restored the Belgramoni Tacco palace for museum use, and it remains the museum's seat today.

The palace was built at the beginning of the 17th century and is a fine example of Venetian noble architecture in Koper. It belonged first to the Belgramoni family and then to the Tacco family. The Mannerist façade, the entrance portal with a mascaron, the atrium, the lavish staircase and the gardens with a lapidarium are part of the visit.

In 1954 the museum became a district museum of complex type, and in 1967 it acquired a regional character and its present name. It covers the area of seven municipalities from Piran to Ilirska Bistrica. The palace presents the archaeological, art-historical, cultural-historical and modern history collections, while the ethnological collection is in a separate building on Gramscijev trg. Since 2009 a unit at Prem Castle near Ilirska Bistrica has also been part of the museum.

Highlights

• Venetian palace Belgramoni Tacco from the early 17th century
• Archaeological collection with prehistoric and Roman finds
• Lapidarium in the palace gardens
• Exhibition Med Serenissimo, Napoleonom in Habsburžani (Between the Serenissima, Napoleon and the Habsburgs)
• Ethnological collection in the late Gothic house on Gramscijev trg

Permanent exhibitions

• Med Serenissimo, Napoleonom in Habsburžani – The exhibition on the second floor of the palace presents the turning-point period after the end of the Venetian Republic in 1797, in settings of a Venetian salon and a library with a corner from the Napoleonic era.
• Renesansa in renesanse – The exhibition shows the artistic flowering of Koper in the 15th and 16th centuries, with busts of distinguished mayors and artworks commissioned by the nobility, the church and the town authorities.
• Lapidarij v vrtovih palače – The lower and upper gardens of the palace house a collection of old stone monuments and inscriptions, including a portal with a winged lion and ancient granite columns.

Founded

1911

Operated by

Javni zavod Pokrajinski muzej Koper (ustanoviteljica Mestna občina Koper)

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Everyone enters free on 8 February, 15 May, 18 May, the third Saturday in June and 3 December, and on the first Sunday of every month.

The museum gallery is free of charge. Free admission also applies to children under 7, members of SMD and ICOM, unemployed persons and persons with disabilities.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

All rooms can also be visited by persons in wheelchairs using a special tracked stair-climbing device that overcomes steps and thresholds. A trained operator is required, so the visit must be booked at least 48 hours in advance (info@pokrajinskimuzejkoper.si, +386 41 55 66 44). Use of the device is free of charge. The museum has the label Psom prijazen muzej (Dog-friendly Museum): dogs may wait on a lead in the museum garden and may enter the rooms only in the company of an adult; service dogs are always allowed in the museum.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

The museum runs family and holiday workshops and educational programmes for kindergartens and schools; a family ticket is available.

Getting there & parking

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Amenities & dining

The museum has an online souvenir shop. The museum hall (piano nobile), the outdoor lapidarium and the garden are venues for concerts and other events.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Weddings / ceremonies

The museum rooms can be hired for exhibitions, weddings and other events; the price list is published on the museum's website.

Plan your visit