St. George has been watching over Piran for almost 400 years now, high atop the cathedral. He has seen many empires come and go. Venice's long reign gave way, Napoleon ruled briefly, the Habsburgs were once able to call Piran their own. Italy's revolution overran Piran, then Hitler's tanks rolled it back again. After the war, Yugolavia rose from the ashes, it too fell apart and so today Piran stands proudly on the Adriatic with the Slovenian flag. St. George never left, he gave the inhabitants hope that not everything that seems great and powerful will last.