Koper

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'''Mestna občina Koper
Comune città di Capodistria''

Area:	311.2 km²
Population  - males  - females	47,539 23,385 24,154
Average age:	38.28 years
Residential areas:  - households:  - families:	17,391 13,879
Working active:  - unemployed:	23,397 2,907
Average monthly salary (August 2003):  - gross:  - net:	257,219 SIT 160,373 SIT
College/university students:	1,800
Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, census of 2002.

Koper (Capodistria in Italian, Koper in Slovenian), pop. 25,000, is a coastal municipality and the largest commercial port in Slovenia, on the Adriatic Sea coast. Sights in Koper include 15th century Praetorian Palace in Venetian Gothic style, the 12th century Carmine Rotunda church, and the Cathedral of St Nazarius with its 14th century tower.

History

Praetorian Palace

The town from an ancient settlement built on an island in the southeastern part of the Gulf of Trieste in the northern Adriatic. In the time of Ancient Greece, the town was known as Aegida, later it became known by its Latin names Capris, Caprea, Capre or Caprista, from which the modern Slovenian name stems from.

In 568, Roman citizens of nearby Tergestum (modern Trieste) fled to 'Aegida' due to an invasion of the Lombards. In honour of the Byzantine emperor Justinian II, Capodistria was renamed to Justinople. Later, Justinopolis under both Lombard and Frankish rule.

Trade between Capodistria and Venice was registered since 932. In the war between Venice and Germany (Holy Roman Empire), Capodistria was on the German side, and was in result awarded by town rights, granted in 1035 by the emperor Conrad II. Since 1232, Capodistria belonged to the patriarch in Aquileia, and in 1278 it joined the republic of Venice.

Capodistria grew to become the capital of Venetian Istria and was renamed to Caput Histriae, "head of Istria" (from which its modern Italian name Capodistria stems from).

Since the 8th century, possibly even since 6th century, Justinopolis was the seat of the diocese. One of Capodistria's bishops was the Lutheran reformer Pier Paolo Vergerio. In 1828, it was merged the diocese of Trieste.

During the period of the Austrian Empire, Capodistria was, along with Trieste part of the Austrian Littoral crown land. Assigned to Italy after World War I, at the end of World War II was part of the Zone B of the Free Territory of Trieste, controlled by Yugoslavia. Most of the Italian inhabitants left the city by 1954, when the Free Territory of Trieste formally ceased to exist and Zone B became part of communist Yugoslavia. The diocese was separated from Trieste and the city was officaly renamed Koper.

With Slovenian independence in 1991 Koper became the only commercial port town of Slovenia. The municipality of Koper is officially bilingual (Slovenian and Italian). The University of Primorska is based in the town.

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