Mini Municipality with maxi treasures
When it takes us into Slovenian Istria in more hot days, the iron classics are Piran, Portorož or Izola, but we will not miss anything if we choose the fastest path to sea refreshment and wave it to Ankaran. This is where some of the most intact corners of the coast are hiding, calling for long walks and exploration.
The sun is already strong, so don’t forget about quality protection. Photo: Agata Rakovec Kurent
The beginning was extremely unpromising. We started from Ljubljana in the sun, but at Postojna it started flying Sodra from the sky, driving along the highway as a snail, and an external thermometer in the car showed nine degrees. “Mom, could you turn?” Heard from the back seats, but I didn’t give up. After a few kilometers, it became clear and the temperature began to rise on the season of adequate value. On the coast, the sun greeted us again.
When the silt was washed, thousands of shells and snails showed themselves, which will surely impress young researchers. There were 131 species of molluscs, 71 species of snails and at least 60 shells.
Our destination was the Ankaran and Debeli Rtič Landscape Park. The Ankaran Peninsula, also called Miljski, is the extreme northwestern part of the Istrian Peninsula. It lies between Miljski and Koper, and there is a border between Slovenia and Italy.
You may not have known that Ankaran is the second smallest Slovenian municipality, smaller is only Odranci along the Mura River, measuring seven square kilometers, and the Ankaran municipality, which in 2011 was created by secession from Koper, has a square kilometer more. But on a small surface there is more than enough attractions for pleasing Sunday trip.
Salted lawn, shell dunning and goddess who protects against enemies
We left the steel hob in the parking lot at the beach of St. Katarina and waved it a few steps to the left, where the so -called shell cemetery or tanatocenosis is. As we can read on the information board, the shell dunes is a rare habitat. It was created due to the deepening of the waterways for the Port of Koper. The material was deposited on the coast where it was exposed to rain, wind and waves.
Shellfish is a rare habitat. It was created due to the deepening of navigation routes for the harbor when the material was deposited on the coast. Photo: Agata Rakovec Kurent
When the silt was washed, thousands of shells and snails showed themselves, which will surely impress young researchers. There were 131 species of molluscs, 71 species of snails and at least 60 shells. In the shelter of the dunes, a smaller wetland was formed, attracting many birds. In order not to disturb other living creatures, it is advisable for four -legged companions to stay on a leash, and we will help to preserve the extraordinary natural environment even if we do not fill our pockets with shells, but leave them where we found them.
Have you ever wondered where the unusual name Ankaran came from? It is almost certainly not related to the Turkish capital, although several theories are circulating about origin. As they wrote on the website of the Ankaran municipality, the theory of the abbot of the Benedictine monastery, which is supposed to be named Ankarian. According to another theory, ancano is a common title for Roman estates, and this local name was used in the 18th century for the entire area from St. Catherine to the border with dioceses.
The youngest family members will surely be impressed with the shell cemetery. Photo: Agata Rakovec Kurent
The word is also reminiscent of the Latin word for anchor, Ancora, while in the Abruška Ankaran (Ancarano è comune p. Teramo), they claim that their name is derived from the Etruscan-Picene goddess Ankaria, protector from enemies. Historians say it is unlikely that the Picene cult of worship of Ankaria would reach the north of the Adriatic, but in Ankaran they have prepared an Ankaria Dobro application, a played guide to Ankaran, which you can find online. With the help of a guide, we can embark on a family adventure path, solve puzzles and learn ancient legends and urban sights.
From the shell dunes, we waved it on the main road towards a good kilometer away from the Mediterranean Salt Travnik, which is a really special experience. If you turn your back to the port, you can really imagine that you find yourself somewhere in the jungle, while just the light away through the lush greenery crosses the sea blue.
Rare and endangered salting plants, including a seaside flax with tiny yellow flowers, which bloom from June to October, and a tavzentrož with gentle pink flowers, which in the past in the past, is considered extinct and on our soil, succeed here.
Mediterranean salted lawn is a natural value of national importance and part of Natura 2000. Because it is an ecologically important area where plants and birds and other animals feel good, we do not leave the wooden bridges with which the meadow is surrounded by.
Ankaran and Debeli Rtič Photo Agata Rakovec Kurent
This is where rare and endangered salting plants thrive, also called halophytes or brine, including seaside flax (Linum Maritimum) with tiny yellow flowers that bloom from June to October, and clasping Tavzentrož (Centaurium Spicatum) With a gentle pink flowers that in the past in Slovenia, it was considered extinct and succeeds only here on our soil. The area is surrounded by a strap of the narrow autumn, forming a rare type of flood forest. We also find many bees, dragonflies and butterflies.
Paradise for hikers
From this very special and meditative place, ideal for seekers of peace and silence, we head to the Ankaran Park, where the monument is dr. Aleš Bebler – PrimožSpanish fighter, partisan, politician, general, diplomat and national hero. Here is also the starting point of the seven -kilometer Bebler Trail, which from the center of Ankaran leads to Črni vrh and to Hrvatine, and from there to Christmas, where it descends across the Sanator Hill to St. Catherine and back to the center of Ankaran.
Those of you who are looking for peace and silence and at the same time are excited about architecture can stop at a newly built Ankaran cemetery that convinced both the professional and the general public. The project was given a few days ago by the Plečnik Award 2025, and last week the Audience Award at the Architectural Festival of the Open House of Slovenia.
The newly constructed Ankaran cemetery last week was awarded the Audience of the Architectural Festival of the Open House of Slovenia, and a few days ago the Plečnik Award of the Professional Public. Photo: Jaka Ivančič/Municipality Ankaran
We waved her from Ankaran towards Debeli Rtič, and on the way we stopped at the Adria Tourist Complex, part of which is a former Benedictine monastery of St. Nicholas from the 11th century, today the four -star Hotel Convent. The monastery was created as a branch of the Venice monastery S. Nicolò al Lido. In the winter, there were fewer monks in it, and in the summer they were joined by numerous visitors from the parent monastery. In the first half of the 17th century, when the plague devastated, the monks left. More than a hundred years later, the monastery was purchased by the Madonizza noble family with the estate, and during the Illyrian provinces there was a military hospital in the monastery.
Debeli Rtič is known primarily for the youth spa and resort, but this piece of Ankaran municipality is also the right choice for anyone who wants to escape from the crowd of more besieged tourist centers and re -connect with nature and themselves. The Debeli Rtič Landscape Park, which lies at the far end of the Ankaran Peninsula, has also been included in the Nature Parks of Slovenia since 2018, with exceptional value.
The heart of the park, which extends over 340 hectares, of which there are 160 at sea, is a rt with a fleece cliff of the same name, a natural sea shore and underwater ridge funds and one of the key areas for the preservation of the biodiversity of the Slovenian Littoral. In the underwater world, there are close to 700 animal species, at least a third of all species of fish in the Slovenian sea, as well as the rare and endangered seafarers, such as the Great Leskur, the long -legged sea hobby, the head of the Kareta and the Little Sea spider. The shallow and sludge of the Bay of St. Jerneja is one of the last such systems on our coast. Here is the most beautiful habitat of the endangered seaside broomstick in Slovenia, and in the bay and its vicinity, archaeologists have also found numerous Roman remains.
The park has arranged walking paths between the olive groves and vineyards, where you will enjoy silence, your thoughts and wonderful views. The rarely populated peninsula offers picturesque views east and neighboring Slovenian seaside towns, Koper, Izola and Piran. In the west, the peaks of the Alps, under which the Italian seashore disappears towards Gradež. In clear weather, Triglav is also clearly visible.
Spectacular views are opened between olive groves and vineyards. Photo: Marko Arandjelović/Mediaspeed/WTO
You can wave it for a one -hour walk along the sea or panoramic path, or head to Ressas Gaj on the west side of the Ankaran Peninsula, where there is a forest educational trail. Named after the Czech inventor of the ship’s screw Joseph Resslswhich worked in Croatia, Italy and our places. On the south side of the Ressl Gaj, the largest olive grovement in Slovenian Istria is.
Seven hectares are also worth a visit to the RKS Mediterranean Park, where more than two hundred plant species with more than 4000 specimens of deciduous trees, conifers, shrubs and perennials grow. Tree species are dominated by cypresses, pines and indigenous fluffy oaks. We also find fruit trees, American agava, Pfitzer Brin, Mirto, Rosemary, Oleander … Through the park leads the Light of Squirrel Hane. If we start from the park on the macadam road between the vineyards, we reach the tower bunker, which is considered to be the most striking military outpost at Debeli Rtič.
The monastery of St. Nicholas wanted today. Photo: Marko Arandjelović/Mediaspeed/WTO
When your feet become tired, it’s time to visit any of the beaches that offer both the sun and the deep shade. For the family of blondes themselves, densely sown pine trees are one of the most important factors in choosing where to put a towel, but if you prefer the sun, do not forget about quality protection.
On our visit, the water had a 19 degrees after an optimistic estimate. The children drove into it straight from the pier without checking, with the process of slow irrigation into the brine lasting much longer, but finally we all swam. Water is not so icy that you would get on the mainland quickly, and swimming is already comfortable, but it is true that I felt deeply refreshed until I pulled an extra blanket from the closet before going to bed. Do not forget the mask and respiratory tract when visiting these ends during the summer months. I promise that when observing the underwater wonders, they will hardly get you dry.
