The Sea - a Scent of the Mediterranean
- Piran
Although only 47 km in length, Slovenia's stretch of Adriatic coast remains very important to the nation as it provides access to all the world's oceans, facilitates the beneficent Mediterranean climate to penetrate the interior and represents enormous potential for tourism.
Slovenia is, therefore, also a Mediterranean country, claiming its share of the warm and shallow Gulf of Trieste, which lies at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea. The Koper coastal region of Slovene Istria is the only part of country lying beside the sea.
- Sečovlje Salt Pans
Salt-pans are, without a doubt, a very attractive element of the Mediterranean landscape of Slovene Istria. In the past, saltworks could be found at Koper, Strunjan, Lucija, and Sečovlje. The only saltworks still in operation today are those at Strunjan and Sečovlje. The Sečovlje salt-pans lie at the mouth of the Dragonja river and provide a genuine treasury of natural and biological heritage. Due to the mixing of fresh and salt water special habitats have developed, in which salt tolerant plants and animals are able to flourish amongst the now semi-redundant workings. Part of the area has been dedicated as a nature reserve and ornithologists have record over 150 different species of bird here. A saltworks museum is also located here.
- Flysch Cliffs /Photo: Bogdan Kladnik
Steep flysch cliffs are another typical landscape element of this region and a tourist attraction. The most remarkable of these, up to 80 metres in height, lie along the coast between Izola and Strunjan.
These are the largest such cliffs on the Adriatic coast and the unrelenting action of the sea constantly undermines their lower layers of marl and gravel. Enthusiasts of underwater exploration will find the waters around Cape Madonna (Rt Madona - Punta) in Piran very interesting. The greatest depth of the sea off of Piran is 37 metres, for which reason scuba divers have nicknamed the area the "Triglav of the sea". This site remains Slovenia's only marine reserve.
Abstract from the book "Vode v Sloveniji" / "Waters of Slovenia", text by Dr Dušan Plut, photographs by Matevž Lenarčič, (Nazarje): EPSI, 1995