Lighthouses of Slovenia

Slovenia is located on the northwestern corner of the former Yugoslav federation, bordering on Austria to the north and Italy to the west. The country has only a short coastline on the Adriatic Sea south of Trieste, Italy. The chief port is Koper, on the Gulf of Trieste just south of the Italian border.

This coast has a complicated history. It was part of the Austrian Empire until that empire was dissolved at the end of World War I in 1918. It was then annexed by Italy, which remained in control to the end of World War II in 1945. For the next nine years it was part of the Free Territory of Trieste, a UN-administered area. In 1954, voters in the area chose Yugoslavia over Italy, so it became part of the Yugoslav Republic of Slovenia. More recently, Slovenia was the first Yugoslav republic to achieve independence, in 1991, and the first to join the European Union, in 2004.

The coastal region of Slovenia is officially bilingual, with both Italian and Slovenian being spoken. Italian place names are shown in brackets {}. The words for a lighthouse are svetilnik in Slovenian and faro in Italian. In Slovenian, rt is the word for a cape or headland.

Aids to navigation in Slovenia are presumably maintained by the Slovenian Maritime Administration.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume E of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 113.

General Sources
Online List of Lights - Slovenia
Photos by various photographers posted by Alexander Trabas.

Piran Light
Piran (Rt Madona) Light, August 2007
anonymous Flickr Creative Commons photo
Lighthouses
* Rt Sveti Bernardin {Punta San Bernardo} (Portorož {Portorose})
Date unknown (station established 1873). Active; focal plane 9 m (30 ft); red flash every 5 s. 8 m (26 ft) conical cast iron tower with gallery, painted red. Trabas has a closeup, and Google has a satellite view. Located at the west end of the quay in Portorož, about 2 km (1.2 mi) southeast of Piran. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty E2632; NGA 11860.
Piran {Pirano} Transverse Mole
1876. Active; focal plane 7 m (23 ft); green flash every 3 s. 6 m (20 ft) square brick tower topped by a small lantern. Tower painted green. Trabas has a closeup, Thomas Penn has a photo showing both mole lights, and Google has an indistinct satellite view. Located at the end of the transverse (south) mole at Piran. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed, but there are excellent views from the north mole or from the town waterfront. ARLHS SLO-011; Admiralty E2630; NGA 11852.
* Piran {Pirano} West Mole
1843. Active; focal plane 7 m (23 ft); red flash every 3 s. 6 m (20 ft) square brick tower topped by a small lantern. Tower painted red. Gabriel Eidelman's photo is at right, Trabas has a closeup, Bert Neven has a photo showing this light and the Piran lighthouse, E. Haller has a photo of both mole lights, and Google has an indistinct satellite view. Located at the end of the west (breakwater) mole at Piran. Accessible by walking the mole. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS SLO-010; Admiralty E2628; NGA 11856.
* Piran {Pirano} (Rt Madona {Punta Madonna})
1872. Active; focal plane 10 m (33 ft); white light, 2 s on, 2 s off. 3 m (10 ft) semi-octagonal stone tower attached to the front of a 1-story stone keeper's cottage, all built on a circular stone pier. The lantern has been removed, and the light is now shown from an iron post in front of the tower. There's a good photo above, Trabas has a photo, another fine view is available, and Google has an indistinct satellite view. The round tower behind the keeper's cottage is often mistaken for the lighthouse, but it is in fact the bell tower of a church. Located at the tip of a sharp promontory in Piran, marking the entrance to the Bay of Piran. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS SLO-006; Admiralty E2624; NGA 11848.
Piran West Mole Light
Piran West Mole Light, June 2006
Flickr Creative Commons photo by Gabriel Eidelman
[Rt Debeli (Plicinia Debeli) {Punta Grossa}]
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 8 m (26 ft); nine quick white flashes every 15 s. 5 m (17 ft) square cylindrical brick (?) tower mounted on a round concrete pier. Lighthouse painted yellow with a black horizontal band. Trabas has a photo, Joel Mrvcic has a good photo, and Google has a satellite view. Located at the end of a reef extending from Rt Debeli, a promontory on the north side of Koper. This light is only a few meters south of the Italian border. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS SLO-012; Admiralty E2607; NGA 11812.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: North: Northeastern Italy | South: Northern Croatia

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Posted August 21, 2006. Checked and revised January 20, 2012. Lighthouses: 4. Site copyright 2012 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.