1st of May Square (Piran, Slovenia)
1st of May Square (Piran, Slovenia)
Piran is steeped in film history – there is hardly a street that hasn’t been captured on film.
The 1st of May Square is perhaps the most iconic location. It is considered the oldest square of Piran, once named simply »The Old Square«.

The semi-local, semi-“imported” director František Čap – a successful Czech filmmaker who moved to Piran and shot eleven significant films here – chose this square as the setting for the legendary comedy OUR CAR (
, 1962).
The same location was later featured in the biggest Slovenian film hit of the 1980s, SUMMER INA SEASHELL (Poletje v školjki) by Tugo Štiglic (1986).
They also dance in this square in the Slovenian-Swedish co-production CADETS (Blåjackor, also known as Cadets in Blue, 1964), directed by Arne Mattsson – a Swedish director best known for the erotic classic SHE DANCED ONE SUMMER (1951).
CADETS holds the title of the first musical ever shot in Slovenia, in which sailors chase girls while dancing through the streets of Piran.
Piran itself is like a stage set – a highly photogenic backdrop and a perfect setting for various film genres.
Since 1953, when the first Slovenian-Austrian co-production was filmed, more than fifty films have been shot in Piran and along the Slovenian coast. This boom was especially notable after film studios were established in the former soap factory in Fornače shortly after World War II.
In Fornače and around the coast, legendary figures such as Orson Welles, Marcello Mastroianni, James Mason, Maximilian Schell, Sam Peckinpah, Klaus Kinski, Yves Montand, Alida Valli, Gillo Pontecorvo, George Hamilton, Peter Lawford, and many others once strolled.