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Cultural heritage

Cultural heritage

Living testimonies of our ancestors

Over the centuries, our ancestors built castles, churches and bridges. They have written stories and songs, invented tools and other objects, and left us their customs, habits and traditions. All this is cultural heritage.
Cultural heritage tells us about people and their lives.

These are human creations and activities preserved in different forms. We therefore distinguish between several types of cultural heritage.

The things we notice most quickly are the things we can touch or feel. Some of them we can move, some of them we cannot move. Churches, castles, farmsteads, fortresses, trestles, floating mills, town centres... we can't move them all, so we call them IMMOVABLE CULTURAL HERITAGE.

A national costume, a carved chair, an old toy, an art painting, an old musical instrument and even an old car - these objects can be moved and have changed location in the past. For example, the famous Mona Lisa was created in Italy and now you can see it in a museum in Paris!

This is MOVABLE CULTURAL HERITAGE and can be found in museums, archives, galleries and libraries.

You probably have an object of exceptional cultural value in your home.

Cultural heritage includes folk traditions, values, customs, habits, skills and knowledge about nature and the environment. It cannot be saved or stolen, because it is passed on as knowledge from one generation to the next.

It is also called intangible or NON-MATERIAL CULTURAL HERITAGE because it cannot be touched.

Where customs and traditions are still kept alive, we speak of LIVING CULTURAL HERITAGE.


 

These include, for example, songs, ways of celebrating, the preparation of traditional dishes such as Bohinj cheese mohant (bohinjski mohant) or Carniolan sausage (kranjska klobasa), knowledge on how to weave a basket or make Idrija lace, and the crafting of Bela Krajina Easter eggs...

And of course, very often all three types of heritage are interconnected and overlap. The hayrack is an example of immovable cultural heritage, while the knowledge of how to build it is living heritage. Under the hayrack, an old carriage is on display. When a horse is harnessed to it, it becomes movable cultural heritage.

DID YOU KNOW?

  1. Slovenia maintains a register of living or intangible cultural heritage. In this register, you can view knowledge, customs, and traditions that have survived through time.

  2. Cultural heritage can be given the status of a cultural monument, while those of exceptional significance can attain the status of a national monument.

  3.  Currently, there are 3 monuments with national significance in the Triglav National Park: the Aljaž Tower at the top of Triglav, the Pocar Homestead in Zgornja Radovna, and the Holy Spirit Memorial Church in Javorca.