Izola Things to Do

This church was constructed in the late 19th century on the location of a Minorite monastery that was probably around in the 6th century. It later gave way to a Benedictine hospice that was built in the 12th century, followed by a nunnery of St Catherine and in 1473 by a Servite monastery which was demolished by the Venetian city senate in 1794.

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The parish church of Izola was built on top of a hill in 1547 and consecrated in 1553. It is built on the same location as a previous church that dated from 1356. Its façade is typically Romanesque whilst the lavish interior (restored in the early 1980’s) is Baroque and features 10 altars and an organ dating from 1796. More photos can be found in my travelogues.

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The separate bell tower (campanile in Italian) was built in 1585 and renovated in 1889. It features 4 Italian bells and it is not possible to climb up to the top which is a shame as the views would be quite wonderful.

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This is Izola’s most beautiful building. It was built in late-Baroque/Rococo style between 1775 and 1781 by the builder F. Dongetti. The mansion has beautiful windows and balconies that are adorned with stuccos and wrought-iron grills painted light blue. It’s said to be the most secular Rococo house in Slovenia.

This church, (and I think I have the name right), stands behind the former municipal palace and has an entrance opposite the Manzoli house in the small square. I don’t have any details of when it was built or anything!

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Izola’s marina is huge for the size of the town and is probably the largest in Slovenia. It’s located at the western end of the town and has over 600 berths for vessels that are up to 30m in length. The whole marina complex also contains tennis courts, an outdoor swimming pool, a shopping centre, bars, a casino, restaurants, and a nautical equipment store. It all makes for a very nice walk round where you can watch people washing their boats and the general goings on of daily nautical life. More pictures can be found in one of my travelogues.

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This attractive square lies at the western end of the main road that runs through Izola. The area around the square is where you’ll find all the practical amenities such as the post office, bus stop and the tourist information office. It’s the main gateway into the town’s medieval core which can be accessed by walking north along the waterfront promenade called Sonèno nabrežje.

Drive to Portoroz or Piran, but take a road which goes also to Strunjan/Strugnano. Above Izola you have a perfect view point to the town. When you drive further, a beautiful pine-tree lined avenue leads ine the the junction for Strunjan, which has with its 80 meters the talles flysch rock face on the Adriatic coast.