Located in the heart of Piran’s winding, Venetian streets, Trg 1 Maja would be easy to miss. Though its name invokes Slovenia’s communist past, Trg 1 Maja translates roughly to “First of May Square.” The name is perhaps a nod to the ancient Slovenian tradition of lighting bonfires on May 1st, a tradition sometimes associated with the pre-Christian holiday of Beltane.
Long before the square was known as Trg 1 Maja, locals referred to it as Stari Trg (“the Old Square” in Slovenian) or Piazza Vecchia (“the Old Piazza” in Italian). It’s an apt name, as Trg 1 Maja is Piran’s oldest square and dates back to the Middle Ages.
In the 18th century, when Slovenia was under Hapsburg rule, an elaborate stone reservoir was built in the square. Gutters attached to houses and businesses around the square drained into the reservoir. That water would then get purified as it seeped through a layer of stone into a large fountain. Residents would then manually pump up the clean water.
Today, the square and reservoir are remarkably unchanged. Two larger-than-life statues, representing Justice and Law, stand atop the reservoir, and carved putti and fish angle the still-intact 18th-century gutters into the historic fountain.
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