in 1831 In the pre-Roman era, the hills in the Piran area were inhabited by
Illyrian
Histri tribes who were farmers, hunters and fishermen. They were also pirates who disrupted Roman trade in the northern Adriatic. The decline of the Roman Empire, from the 5th century AD onward, and incursions by the
Avars and
Slavs at the end of the 6th century, prompted the Roman population to withdraw into easily defensible locations such as islands or peninsulas. This started local urbanisation and by the 7th century, under
Byzantine rule, Piran had become heavily fortified. Despite the defences, the
Franks conquered Istria in 788 and Slavs settled in the region. By 952, Piran had become a part of the
Holy Roman Empire. The earliest reliable records of the area are in the 7th century work
Cosmographia by an anonymous cleric of
Ravenna. The name of the town most probably originates from the
Greek pyrrhos, which means 'red', because of the reddish
flysch stones commonly found in the town's area. Some historians also refer it to
pyros, meaning 'fire', due to ancient lighthouses which were supposed to be on the edge of the marina. From 1283 to 1797, the town became part of the
Republic of Venice, where it was governed in a semi-autonomous way, with a council of local noblemen assisting the Venetian delegate. Several enemy (e.g. from the
Republic of Genoa) and pirate assaults were repelled during the late Middle Ages; a great pestilence hit the town in 1558, killing about two thirds of the population. The last decades of Venetian rule were marked by decadence, due to the competition with the nearby
Austrian port town of
Trieste.The town was annexed to the
Austrian Empire in 1797; but during the years from 1806 to 1814, it was ceded to the
Napoleonic Empire. On 22 February 1812, the
Battle of Pirano was fought between a British and a French
ship of the line in the vicinity of Piran. This was a minor battle of the
Adriatic campaign of the
Napoleonic Wars. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Piran was an
Austro-Hungarian town with over 15,000 inhabitants, roughly the same size as nearby
Koper. Around 80% of the population was ethnically and culturally Italian, with a Slovene minority of around 15%. It was a flourishing market and spa town with good transport connections. The first
trolleybus line in the
Balkans was introduced to public service on 24 October 1909 in Piran. In 1912, it was replaced by a
tramway that operated on the same route till 1953. After the
First World War, together with Trieste and all
Istria, the town was ceded to Italy. The town was annexed to
Yugoslavia in 1954, according to the
London Memorandum signed together with Italy. A significant part of Piran's population chose to emigrate to Italy or abroad in the final phase of the
Istrian–Dalmatian exodus, rather than stay in socialist Yugoslavia. He represents the
Social Democrats. The territorial claims of Croatia and Slovenia in the
Gulf of Piran remain an important matter of debate in the
Croatia–Slovenia border disputes that began after the dissolution of Yugoslavia. ==Culture and education==