Portorož is a Slovenian Adriatic seaside resort and spa town located in the Municipality of Piran in southwestern Slovenia. Its modern development began in the late 19th century with the vogue for the first health resorts. In the early 20th century Portorož became one of the grandest seaside resorts in the Adriatic, along with Abbazia, Lido and Grado, then as part of the Austrian Littoral.[2] It is now one of Slovenia’s major tourist areas.
Located in the centre is the Palace Hotel, once one of the most important resorts for the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and currently one of the finest hotels between Venice and Dubrovnik.
The settlement and its surrounding areas are served by Portorož International Airport which is located in the nearby village of Sečovlje.
| Country |  Slovenia |
|---|---|
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Đenio Zadković |
| Area | |
| • Total | 44.6 km (17.2 sq mi) |
| Population (July 1, 2018) | |
| • Total | 17,613 |
| • Density | 390/km (1,000/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02 (CEST) |
Economy
The economy of Portorož is mainly based on tourism and the gambling industry. The facilities include a marina, numerous sporting facilities and several casinos, along with many hotels and apartment complexes.
Tourism development
In the second half of the 19th century, the leaders of the Pirano municipality and local doctors decided to stimulate tourism in the region, by offering health treatment by concentrated salt water and salina mud. Have a go with your current joy along with tipps f�r book of ra. From 1879 onward, Dr Giovanni Lugnano the first to offer such treatment to various visitors.
In 1885, after several years of successful start of a new branch of industry, constructions of new complexes and villas began, and, in 1890, the predecessor of the famous Hotel Palace was built.
In 1908, Orazio Pupini, a prominent Austrian doctor with a notable treatment history opened a sanatorium. He was also the main doctor of the Austrian Railways, and a member of the Austrian Doctors’ Association. In 1902, the Parenzana railway system was introduced which increased the popularity of the region, but was later dissolved because of decreased interests.
In 1909, the era of construction of private villas ended with opening of a much bigger building for standards at the time; the Palace Cur Hotel, later known as the Palace Hotel. At the initial opening ceremony, in 1910, the Palace Hotel was named “the most beautiful hotel on the Adriatic coast”. The hotel was equipped with the most modern therapeutic accessories, and a casino was built for important guests.
The thriving community was halted by World War I, and a few years after the war (in which they came under Italian rule) in 1928 they included a new electric therapy among their treatment programmes. In the interwar period the settlement was slowly regaining its former glory when World War II severely crippled it again. The crisis lasted until 1968 when renovations and new constructions under the new entity of Yugoslavia began to take place along the whole region. In this time they began to build the settlement’s infrastructure with the casino doing the bulk of the investments in reconstructing the sports airfield in nearby Sečovlje and building the multi-purpose auditorium in 1972.
In 1976, two hotel complexes were constructed in Bernardin; in the following year another was added in the same area. In the same year they began transforming the Lucija saltworks into a marina for smaller vessels. Since the secession of Slovenia from Yugoslavia, Portorož has become one of the most important tourist sites in the country.
Gambling
The first casino to be opened was in Villa San Lorenzo, on 27 July 1913, and was run by the Casino des Etrangers society. It only lasted a few months before being shut down.
The industry faded away in the northern Adriatic region, until 1963, when Zavod za pospeševanje turizma, whose president was Anton Nino Spinelli, proposed a reopening of the casino. The next year the first casino in the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, and the second within Yugoslavia other than the one in Opatija, Croatia.
In 1972, the company moved into the newly built and much larger Remisens Premium Hotel Metropol, where they employed around 450 people. Having a large budget surplus, they began investing in the settlement’s infrastructure.[8] Today there are multiple casinos located in Portorož, such as the Casino Riviera, Grand Casino Portorož, and the Casino Bernardin, located in the Grand Hotel Emona complex, which includes the Hotel Villa Park.
Bernardin
Bernardin is a tourist complex located in the western part of Portorož. Its name derives from sveti Bernardin (“Saint Bernardino”), as the church, now in ruins, was named. Before the construction of multiple complexes, the area was a shipyard for smaller vessels, later moved to the town of Izola. In 1971, Emona company from Ljubljana established Hoteli Bernardin, and began working on building the complex. In 1976, the first two hotels, Bernardin and Vile Park were built, with Grand hotel Emona following the next year.
The monastery associated with Saint Bernardino’s Church, which was built in 1452, was closed in 1806. In 1830, the Austrian military converted the structure into a fortress to guard the Bay of Piran, after which the buildings started to deteriorate.
Geography
Portorož belongs to the coastal municipality of Piran, located in the southwest of the Gulf of Trieste (at the northernmost point of the Adriatic Sea) between the boundaries of Italy to the north and Croatia to the south. Part of Portorož are the streets Fiesa and Pacug.
Climate
Portorož has humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with cool winters and warm summers. Winters are cool and mild with a January average of 4.7 °C (40.5 °F) while summers are warm with a July high of 28.4 °C (83.1 °F) and a low of 16.5 °C (61.7 °F). Due to its coastal location, temperatures below −10 °C (14.0 °F) or above 35 °C (95.0 °F) are rare. The average annual precipitation is 931.2 millimetres (37 in) which is fairly distributed throughout the year though September and October see a peak in precipitation levels. Portorož averages 2,385 hours of sunshine per year.
KABINET ŽUPANA
Zaposleni
- Vodja kabineta, Niko Mally 05 671 03 09 niko.mally@piran.si
- Svetovalec župana, Bruno Kuzmin 05 671 03 15 bruno.kuzmin@piran.si
- Poslovna sekretarka, Moira Mahnič 05 671 03 15 moira.mahnic@piran.si
- Strokovna sodelavka, Erika Čok 05 6710 314 erika.cok@piran.si
- Strokovna sodelavka, Ariana Buzleta 05 6710 310 ariana.buzleta@piran.si
