The Loggia Palace ( it, palazzo della Loggia) is a

Venetian Gothic Venetian Gothic is the particular form of Italian Gothic architecture typical of Venice, originating in local building requirements, with some influence from Byzantine architecture, and some from Islamic architecture, reflecting Venice's trading ...

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

, a port town in southwestern

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. It is the only preserved Gothic

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

in Slovenia.

History

The earliest part of the existing building dates from 1462, when building work began on a replacement for an earlier Loggia that had stood in the same position on the north side of the main square of Koper, opposite the

Praetorian Palace The Praetorian Palace ( sl, Pretorska palača, it, palazzo Pretorio) is a 15th-century Venetian Gothic palace in the city of Koper, in southwest Slovenia. Located on the southern side of the city's central Tito Square (at ''Titov trg/piazza T ...

. Following a plague outbreak in Koper in 1553-1555, the facade of the Loggia was embellished with coats-of-arms, and a

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

statue of the Madonna and Child was erected in a niche above the left corner column. Further work was carried out in 1698, when a second storey was added and the facade was extended with two additional arches taken from the west side of the palace. The Loggia currently houses a cafe on the ground floor.http://primorska.info/novice/7386/vivat_loggia
/ref> In the second floor, it houses an art gallery operated by the Piran Coastal Galleries.

References

{{Koper Buildings and structures completed in 1462 Houses completed in 1698 Palaces and mansions in Koper Gothic palaces Gothic architecture in Slovenia City and town halls in Slovenia Loggias