Top 10 Sights & Landmarks in Kranjska Gora, Upper Carniola Region

The summit of Pec (1510 metres) above Ratece is the spot where the borders of the three neighbouring countries Slovenia, Italy and Austria meet. It is also the meeting point of three cultures: Slavonic, Romanic and Germanic. Each year the summit of Pec is the meeting place of the three peoples and it is here that the plan to mount a joint Olympic bid by three separate nations was born.

Ajdovska deklica is the rock face of a maiden that found its own special place in folk fable. Legend has it that the Ajdovska maidens foretold the people of Kranjska Gora their fortune at birth. They also advised the people when to sow their crops and when to harvest them. One of the maidens foretold the son of a hunter that he would kill the Goldenhorn which inhabited the surrounding mountains. This prophecy angered the other maidens who punished Ajdovska deklica by turning her into rock.

The large window that nature carved in the face of the Prisank mountain is the best-known in Slovenia. It is a staggering 80 metres tall and 40 metres wide. Its tattered rock cliffs and the large mound of scree below indicate that sometime in history, the rock was punctured at a weak joint causing a landslide that, through rock-deterioration and weathering, grew to its present day size. Which is the correct name, Prisank or Prisojnik? This is a dilemma that has been going on for more than a century. Both names mean the same in the Slovenian language and the name of the mountain indicates that its slopes are positioned to face the Sun.

According to tradition the church was built in the very earliest days of Kranjska Gora’s history. It was built in honour of the Virgin Mary and was called the church of Mary at Beli prod. Only the bell tower, built from sandy blocks in Romanesque style remains from the original church. The existing church dates back to the late Gothic period and was built in 1510 by master builder Jernej Firtaler from Villach. A certain Carinthian influence is evident mainly in the nave vault, which is supported by internal pillars and decorated with a web of ribs which makes it one of the most interesting of its kind in Slovenia.

The Russian chapel was built to honour the memory of those who died and to serve as a reminder of the follies of war. Russians prisoners built the neat little chapel between 1916 and 1917. The chapel has two small towers built in traditional Russian style. All around the chapel and along the roadside are the graves of Russian soldiers. In the First World War Vrsic was a strategic point providing the Austrian troops a more accessible router to the Soča Front. The supply of arms was crucial and the road to Vrsic had to be kept clear at all times, including during the winter months. Therefore, in winter, huge amounts of snow were cleared from the road by Russian prisoners of war under close supervision of the Austrian army. One day a huge avalanche buried the Russian prison camp, killing more than three hundred Russian prisoners and ten of their guards.