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Alpine Villages
History & Local Heritage
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– Kranjska Gora –
“Zgornjesavska dolina” is an alpine valley carved by ancient glaciers and the river Sava with Karavanke mountain range on the one side and the Julian Alps on the other. Placed on the border with Austria and Italy it is a wonderful combination of rich natural and cultural heritage.
Each place in the valley has its own peculiarities, history, and stories. The center of the valley, Kranjska Gora, and the surrounding villages, scattered in the embrace of mighty peaks, is a paradise for cyclists, hikers, and climbers, and in the heat of summer, they offer a wonderful alternative to the whitewashed city streets.
Explore numerous churches, chapels, old homesteads, and museums, which authentically depict the past life, habits, and living environment of the people…
863 m / Population: 611
Ratece village
People in the village are still intensively engaged in animal husbandry, as vast meadows and pastures surround you. The place was mentioned for the first time in 1385 and is known for its Late Gothic Church of St. Tomaza, where the Ratece or Celovec manuscripts were created in the second half of the 14th century. In the last century, the place has been inseparably connected with the Planica valley, where famous ski jumps started.
Due to its location – the meeting point of the three countries of Slovenia, Austria, and Italy, the place is an important starting point for mountain trips to both Julijce and Karavanke…
860 m / Population: 397
Podkoren village
The village is known for the skiing competitions for the World Cup, which take place on the northern slopes of Vitranac hill. On the western edge of the settlement stands the church of St. Andreja, and the entire village is protected as a monument. Around the core of the village and a 100-year-old linden tree, you can find many Gothic and late Gothic houses and farms.
Sir Humphry Davy, Cornish physicist, and chemist, inventor of the safety mining lamp, lived in the settlement…
761 m / Population: 600
Gozd Martuljek
The village of Gozd Martuljek is located on the banks of the Sava River, a sprawling settlement with just over 600 inhabitants. The settlement is divided into Spodnje Rute and Zgornje Rute. Above Martuljek there is also a smaller village called Srednji Vrh. The local population depends on livestock farming and tourism, which offers you a wide range of apartments, holiday homes, and cottages.
Martuljek is an excellent vantage point for the Martuljska group of mountains and the starting point for some hiking trails around Karavanke. From the northern slopes of the Martuljska group, waters flow into the Martuljek stream, on which there are two tall waterfalls…
660 m / Population: 1088
Mojstrana
The development of the settlement is connected with the smelting industry and the iron ore deposits nearby, as well as with the cement factory, which collapsed after the First World War.
Attractions worth seeing are the church of St. Klemena from the 17th century, the Triglav Museum Collection or the Slovenian Mountain Museum, a giant village walnut with a circumference of 470 cm, Triglavski Gaj Park, Šmercova House, Ambrožčeva House, the high Spodnji and Zgornji Peričnik waterfalls in the Vrat Valley, the remains of the aqueduct for the former cement factory, Aljažev dom and a monument to the fallen partisan mountaineers in the Vrat valley, the north wall of Triglav, the Zeleni Sneg glacier and the Triglav abyss next to it.
