Dušan Koman

In the Tartini Square, the centre of the medieval Piran, stands the Benečanka house (the Venetian woman’s House) from the middle of the 15th century, one of the most exquisite examples of architecture in the Venetian Gothic style in Slovenia. The facade bears a stone heraldic plaque with the initial B and a lion holding in its paws an inscription ribbon with the inscription »Lasa pur dir«, around which a legend arose. According to it, a rich local maiden fell in love with a Venetian merchant. When her sweetheart was away, evil tongues made the girl's life ever difficult. As a result the sportive merchant had the stone plaque with the inscription »Lasa pur dir« (Let them talk) put on the house where they held their trysts. This is also the nickname of the house.

The luxurious Benečanka house is a Venetian palace built in mid-15th century. It was commissioned by the rich local patrician Del Bello family. Their coat of arms with a lion, the initial B and the inscription »Lasa pur dir« is preserved on the house facade. Its protruding position on the Tartini Square creates two almost equal fronts. The more representative one that faces the square is dominated by the triphora in the first floor, which is surrounded by crenellations. To the left of this is the most exquisite architectural element in the house, the corner balcony on stone consoles with lion heads. The balcony balustrade consists of pillars with basket capitals, it bears heads of two men and two women and there is also a lion in the corner. The balcony is reached via two doors, which are shaped in the same manner as the triphora on the same floor. The capital of the corner column separating the two doors has very rich figural decoration. On the second floor, there are two windows with protruding ledges on consoles in the shape of lion heads in the representative façade. The other façade, facing the street, has a window of a similar form, but it is slightly more modest. The two fronts end in the stone console under the roof. In 1935, the house was restored renewed by the Venetian architect and conservator Ferdinard Forlatti. Despite some alterations in the ground floor, is has fully preserved its Venetian Gothic ambience.

The house with its protruding position, aesthetic effect and its red facade, which makes the white architectural elements even more prominent is one of the crucial emphases of the Tartini Square. Its significance for Slovenia is even greater because it is one of the most beautiful and exquisite examples of Venetian Gothic architecture in the country and one of the most beautiful monuments of the time when the Slovenian coast was under Venetian rule.