TRIGLAV NATIONAL PARK

In politics and in spirit, Slovenia is an independent land, and whilst Triglav National Park does not pander to tourism, its mountains and settlements are charismatic.

The benefits of national park status that are enjoyed by Triglav have been hard won. Different groups have lobbied for the full package of permanent protective legislation for the widest possible area since 1908. Time and again campaigners have had to push offers of compromise back across the negotiating table.

However, since 1981, after decades of redefinition and renaming, the 838 sq km of Triglavski Narodni Park as it stands today, have been sheltered from development and abuse. Triglav is unique amongst Slovenia’s protected areas by the degree of official preservation it enjoys, and as such the sanctity of its mountains, valleys and lakeland are guarded jealously.

Tourism in the park As increasing numbers of visitors are drawn to what were the alpine wildernesses of Central and Western Europe, Triglav has had to strike a delicate balance. Threats of development and commercialisation continue to stir heated reactions from the people, as seen in the resistance mustered against plans to install a cable-car route to the summit of Mount Triglav. Many of the towns have avoided dramatic modernisation, taking advantage of their seclusion in the Alps. Slovenia’s tourist centres, such as the town of Kranjska Gora in the north-west of the park, tend to be comparatively modest resorts. Likewise, tourist attractions, such as the Alpinum Juliana botanical gardens and the Church of St Joseph in the So˘ca valley, are subtle and organic.

Historically, even the country’s trade and tourist heartlands have grown up in thrall to the mountains. Kranjska Gora’s proximity to the valleys of Sava Dolinka and Pi˘snica has established the town as a base for excursions up to the peaks.

This association has brought with it the humility and reverence of the Slovenian Alpine tradition, characterised by the statue of the alpinist and writer Julius Kugy which sits before the mountains in Trenta. The development of the landscape continues at an epic geological pace, rather than in a commercial rush. The water on the limestone shapes the land more than the winter resorts do.

History and tradition Because of this measured pace of change, the history of Slovenia is particularly close at hand. Rural communities and agricultural traditions persist in the Julijske Alpe (the Julian Alps): not in preserved chalets and processions staged for the benefit of the tourist industry, but according to the rhythms and demands of mountain life.

Similarly, Slovenia’s recent stability and peacefulness is resonant because of the trouble that has gone before it. The banks of the So˘ca river were amongst the most brutal battle fronts of the First World War. A popular route for hikers, the road which travels from Kranjska Gora by the Vr˘si˘c Pass to Bovec was partially laid by Russian prisoners of war. These men were buried beneath an avalanche in 1916, and are commemorated in a chapel which has been built nearby.

Mount Triglav In other ways the history of Triglav National Park is the history of Mount Triglav itself. In 1778 four men from Bohinj were the first to scale the mountain’s 2,864m. In spite of competition from the startling peaks of Razor (2,601m), Skrlatica (2,738m), and the geometric spectacle of Spik (2,472m), Mount Triglav has become the hub of the National Park and of the country’s national imagery.

Stamped on Slovenia’s national emblem, and featured in countless ancient, Romantic and nationalistic mythologies, Mount Triglav is close to the heart of the Slovenian sense of identity. The pride nurtured by organisations like the country’s first Alpine society, the Triglav Friends, fed into a sense of national confidence and a will to be independent of Austro-Hungarian rule.

The same kind of societies are responsible today for the exemplary footpaths and waymarked routes that are found throughout the park, and for the upkeep of the huts and houses maintained for the benefit of walkers.

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In addition Huw Jenkins has added this link to the BBC's website - an article about the twinning of Snowdonia and the Triglav National Park Snowdonia and the Triglav National Park. (Note: there is no back button on that webpage.)

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