Regional Museum of Koper

What makes it special

The museum fills the Belgramoni Tacco Palace, an early seventeenth-century palace in the heart of the old town, and has been here since 1954. Its collections run from prehistoric and Roman finds through the Renaissance and Venetian centuries to the recent history of southern Primorska.

The art rooms hold sculpture, paintings and crafts from Istria. During the Second World War many precious works of art were sent away to Friuli, so the display you see today was rebuilt around what remained and what came after.

In the garden, the carved stone of the lapidary collection is the oldest material culture of the coast and the Karst.

In the lapidarium stands a large sgraffito mural, its design scratched through layers of plaster, made in 1956 by the painter Vladimir Lakovič on what was once a hotel terrace.

Visiting

The panels in each room carry English translations and QR codes for an online audio guide, so bring your phone charged and a pair of headphones.

Look for the noble family crests, the paintings and the Renaissance statues, then the weapons and the musical collection. The grand hall sits on the main upper floor, furnished with seventeenth- and eighteenth-century pieces from the Venetian world, so give it a slow look.

Save the garden for last. Walk out to the lapidarium in front of the palace, find the sgraffito mural and step back to see the whole wall.

Tips

Ask at the desk whether a concert or other event is on in the garden or the lapidarium while you are in Koper; the museum holds them through the year. Ask too whether the garden opens when the museum is closed before you plan around one.