Top experiences

Visitors can walk among olive groves and vineyards that descend from the top of the Ankaran peninsula to the cliff, which falls steeply into the sea on Debeli rtič. The cliff walls are between 12 and 21 meters high. The cliffs feature numerous, autochthonous plants, and the rocky sea bed hosts many marine organisms due to the shallowness of the sea and good illumination. It is spread throughout with typical algae or sand with seaweed 'cimodocejo.' Meanwhile numerous animals are hidden in the waters: sponge sulphate, waxy sea vet, oyster, edible mussels, leek, squid wolf, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, small crabs and others.

Bebler's path, named after Dr. Aleš Bebler - Primož, is a footpath leading from the centre of Ankaran to Črni vrh and Hrvatini, and from there to Božice, where after the Sanatorian hill, it descends to the sea, more precisely to St. Catherine and back to the centre of Ankaran. On St. Catherine's, hikers can discover mussels in the shells of bivalve molluscs, while listening to the many birds nesting there. On a salty meadow just next to St. Nikolai, you can admire native plants and visit in the park a monument dedicated to Dr. Aleš Bebler - Primož.

St. Nikolai, with its park and bathing place, was created as a branch of the Venetian monastery S. Nicolò al Lido in the 11th century. In winter, a small number of monks lived there. In the summer, they were joined by numerous visitors from the Monastery. In the first half of the 17th century, the plague diminished the local population and monks left. The last monk left the monastery in 1641. Over a hundred years later, the monastery, together with the property, was purchased by a family from Koper, the Madonizzas. In the time of Napoleon's Illyrian provinces, there was a military hospital. In the 19th century, St. Nicholas was a very popular summer resort for locals from Trieste.

Visitors to Ankaran who want to spend their holidays actively have great opportunities for walking along the green slopes, which are decorated with olive groves and vineyards. They can also explore the sea trails, featuring the graves of shells, and where 234 species of snails found in the Gulf of Trieste can be found as well as the least visible 30 species of different birds, as well as the Mediterranean salt meadows, which contain silt, moist and salty soils and hide other interesting plants.