Slovenia's tourism

(en.wikipedia.org)
Updated: 2009-08-20 14:07

The Central European nation of Slovenia offers tourists a wide variety of landscapes in a small space: Alpine in the northwest, Mediterranean in the southwest, Pannonian in the northeast and Dinaric in the southeast.

The nation's capital, Ljubljana, proudly shows its Baroque and Art Nouveau influence, and the work of native born architect Jože Plečnik. Other attractions include the Julian Alps with the picturesque Lake Bled in Bled and Soča valley, as well as the nation's highest peak, Mount Triglav. Perhaps even more famous is Slovenia's karst named after the Karst plateau in southwestern Slovenia. More than 28 million visitors have visited Postojna Cave, while a 15-minute ride from it are Škocjan Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Further in the same direction is the coast of the Adriatic Sea, with a jewel of Venetian Gothic, Piran. The hills around the nation's second-largest city, Maribor, are renowned for their wine-making. Even though Slovenes tend to consume most of the wine they produce, some brands like Ljutomer have made their appearance abroad. Geology has made the northeastern part of the country rich with spas, with Rogaška Slatina being perhaps its most prominent site.

Triglav National Park (Slovene: Triglavski narodni park) is a national park located in Slovenia. It was named after mount Triglav, a national symbol of Slovenia. Triglav is situated almost in the middle of the national park. From it the valleys spread out radially, supplying water to two large river systems having their sources in the Julian Alps: the Soča and the Sava, flowing to the Adriatic and Black Sea, respectively.

The proposal for conservation dates back to the year 1908, and was realised in 1924. Then, on the initiative taken by the Nature Protection Section of the Slovene Museum Society together with the Slovene Mountaineering Society, a twenty year lease was taken out on the Triglav Lakes Valley area, some 14 km². It was destined to become an Alpine Protection Park, however permanent conservation was not possible at that time.In 1961, after many years of effort, the protection was renewed (this time on a permanent basis) and somewhat enlarged, embracing around 20 km². The protected area was officially designated as the Triglav National Park. Under this act, however, all objectives of a true national park were not attained and for this reason over the next two decades, new proposals for the extension and rearrangement of the protection were put forward. Finally, in 1981, a rearrangement was achieved and the park was given a new concept and enlarged to 838 km² - the area it continues to cover to this day.