Seča 115, Sečoveljske soline, 6333 Sečovlje
In the area, known as Sečovlje Salina Nature Park, the symbiosis between man and nature is marked with centuries-old tradition of salt-making; from the Middle Ages till today it has created a unique salina landscape.
Owing to its specific architectural and historical features as well as to the exceptional diversity of plants and animals (such as 270 species of birds), the 650 ha large area of once thriving salt-pans is today protected as a cultural monument and nature park.
In these northernmost Mediterranean salt-pans, salt is still produced traditionally, with classical salt-pan methods and tools, which is the reason why salt has retained its very special taste and exceptional characteristics. And you need no more than a fleeting glance at nature, which seems as if time stopped in it ages ago, to be totally enraptured by it.
At Sečovlje Salina you are welcome every dayIn the morning you can enter the Park about an hour after sunrise, and leave it in the evening about an hour before sunset. In the cold half of the year, the Park is, as a rule, open between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. in the warm part of the year. At dusk and during the night the Park is thus again earmarked for their permanent inhabitants to recover from the daytime visitors.
Sečovlje Salina Nature Park covers about 650 ha along the Slovene-Croatian boundary in the extreme south western part of Slovenia, in the southern part of the Community of Piran.
Its northern part, where active salt-making is still taking place, is called Lera. From the Park's southern part, called Fontanigge, it is separated by the bed of the Drnica stream.
The Fontanigge is full of large basins which, however, are being gradually overgrown by the characteristic salt-loving vegetation – halophytes. The basins are crisscrossed by the system of ancient levees, amongst which mostly the larger ones have been preserved. Along the wide channels, the former salt-pan houses are scattered, which with their characteristic appearance co-create the truly unique image of the salina landscape. The main freshwater vein is the Dragonja river, which after few tens of kilometres of its course joins the sea at the Sečovlje salt-pans.
At Fontanigge, salt-harvesting was abandoned in the 1960s, but the tradition of salt-making, which originates from the 14th century, is still practiced within the Museum of Salt-making. Here, each salt-field used to constitute an independent salt-pan with its own basins for seawater condensation and crystallisation.
At Lera (still »active« pans), the salt-fields used for crystallisation of salt are separated from the fields used for condensation of seawater (evaporation basins). The difference between the two procedures of salt-making therefore lies in the technological process, associated with the preparation of brine, harvest and storage of salt, and in very diverse implements. Their common characteristics, however, lies in the fact that at Fontanigge and Lera the salters cultivate, on the bottom of salt-fields, the so-called petola , a special type of biosediment that prevents sea mud from merging with salt and at the same time restrains separate ions from building in salt. GPS Northing (N)
: 45,4938 GPS Easting (E)
: 13,6069 Notice of discounts
On the basis of the stipulations covered by the Law on nature conservation, entrance is charged for the visit of Sečovlje Salina Nature Park and the Museum of Salt-Making.
Price of the entrance ticket
pre-school children : free of charge
Tickets can be bought at all entrance points to the Sečovlje Salina Nature Park, arriving from Seča, along the Dragonja, and by boat. It is valid all day and for the visit of the Park's area, of course on the day when issued and at the time when the Park is open.
By purchasing the ticket, you are insured against accidents that may occur during the visit of the Park.
The means collected by tickets are earmarked for the restoration of the Park's infrastructure.