Navje Memorial Park ( sl, Spominski park Navje), the redesigned part of the former St. Christopher's Cemetery (), is a memorial park in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, the capital of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. It is located in the Bežigrad district, just behind the Ljubljana railway station.

History

St. Christopher's Cemetery

St. Christopher's Cemetery was

blessed Blessed may refer to: * The state of having received a blessing * Blessed, a title assigned by the Roman Catholic Church to someone who has been beatified Film and television * ''Blessed'' (2004 film), a 2004 motion picture about a supernatural ...

in May 1779 by

Johann Karl von Herberstein Johann Karl von Herberstein (Slovenized: ''Karel Janez Herberstein'', July 7, 1719 – October 7, 1787) was a bishop of Ljubljana. Life Johann Karl von Herberstein's parents were the Styrian governor Johann Ernst von Herberstein (1671–1746) ...

, the

Bishop of Ljubljana The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ljubljana ( sl, Nadškofija Ljubljana, la, Archidioecesis Labacensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Slovenia.Exhibition and Convention Centre. Between the late 18th century and the early 20th century, it was the central town cemetery. In 1906, a new cemetery was established next to Holy Cross Church and most new burials gradually took place there. After 1926, burials no longer took place at St. Christopher's Cemetery, and it was destroyed in 1955 together with the two churches associated with it in order to create a fairground for the 7th Congress of the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...

.Hočevar, Ksenja. 2014. "Nekoč slavno pokopališče, danes konjenica prestolnice." ''Družina'' (6 July).
The various remains that were gathered from the site were transferred to a nearby common grave at what was intended to be the Baraga Seminary, and only Jernej Kopitar and Ivan Tušek were actually reburied in Navje.

Design

In the 1930s, a small portion of the old cemetery, including the arcade porch that was built around 1865, was transformed in a "

pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...

" of famous

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovene as their n ...

. The memorial park was designed by the architects Jože Plečnik and Ivo Spinčič in collaboration with the gardener Anton Lah. Already in 1932, Plečnik had proposed building a monumental church on the same site, which would include a

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

with tombs of prominent Slovenes. The project, planned together with his student Edvard Ravnikar, was however rejected, and so Plečnik proposed the creation of Navje Memorial Park.

Later history

Between 1936 and 1940 several gravestones and tombstones of notable personalities were moved into the park, but because of the Axis

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...

in April 1941 the project was never completed. Many of the gravestones planned to be moved into Navje Memorial Park, such as those of Prešeren, Trubar, Maister, and Rusjan, were not brought in, and many graves of unimportant individuals, planned to be moved to Žale, have remained in the park. Plečnik's plans to enlarge the park were never carried out. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the park was largely neglected and renovation took place only in the 1990s.

Prominent gravestones

Notable people's gravestones displayed at Navje Memorial Park include: *

Anton Aškerc Anton Aškerc (; 9 January 1856 – 10 June 1912) was an Slovenian poet and Roman Catholic priest who worked in Austria, best known for his epic poems. Aškerc was born into a peasant family near the town of Rimske Toplice in the Duchy of Styri ...

(1856–1912), poet * Josef Blasnik (1800–1872), editor *

Janez Bleiweis Janez Bleiweis (19 November 1808 – 29 November 1881) was a Slovene conservative politician, journalist, physician, veterinarian, and public figure. He was the leader of the so-called Old Slovene political movement. Already during his lifetime, ...

(1808–1881), politician, known as "The Father of the Nation" * Matija Čop (1797–1835), philologist and the closest friend and collaborator of the poet France Prešeren * Karel Dežman (1821–1889), historian and politician * Mihael Dežman (1783–1833), merchant * Jurij Flajšman (1818–1874), composer *

Ivan Grohar Ivan Grohar (15 June 1867 – 19 April 1911) was a Slovene Impressionist painter. Together with Rihard Jakopič, Matej Sternen, and Matija Jama, he is considered one of the leading figures of Slovene impressionism in the fin de siecle ...

(1867–1911), painter *

Johann Nepomuk Hradeczky Johann Nepomuk Felix Hradeczky ( sl, Janez Nepomuk Hradec(z)ky, in older sources ''Ivan Nepomuk Hradec(z)ky''; August 30, 1775 – July 6, 1846) was an Austrian politician. Life Hradeczky was born in Ljubljana (now Slovenia). He served as the ma ...

(1775–1846), Mayor of Ljubljana (1820–1846) * Luka Jeran (1818–1898),

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest and missionary, founder of the Salesians of Don Bosco in the Slovenia *

Josip Jurčič Josip Jurčič (4 March 1844 – 3 May 1881) was a Slovene writer and journalist. He was born in Muljava, Austrian Empire (now part of the municipality of Ivančna Gorica, Slovenia)Levec, Fran. 1881. Josip Jurčič. ''Ljubljanski zvon'' 1(6) ( ...

(1844–1881), novelist and editor * Jernej Kopitar (1780–1844), philologist * Anton Korošec (1872–1940), politician *

Emil Korytko Emil Antoni Korytko (7 September 1813 – 31 January 1839) was a Polish political activist in the period of the Great Emigration, who was exiled to Ljubljana, Carniola (now Slovenia) and became an important ethnographer, philologist and translato ...

(1813–1839),

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

ethnologist and political activist *

Fran Levstik Fran Levstik (28 September 1831 – 16 November 1887) was a Slovene writer, political activist, playwright and critic. He was one of the most prominent exponents of the Young Slovene political movement. Life and work Levstik was born in 18 ...

(1831–1887), writer and political activist *

Anton Tomaž Linhart Anton Tomaž Linhart (December 11, 1756 – July 14, 1795) was a Carniolan playwright and historian, best known as the author of the first comedy and theatrical play in general in Slovene, ''Županova Micka'' (Micka, the Mayor's Daughter). He is ...

(1756–1795), playwright and historian * Kašpar Mašek (1794–1873), Slovene- Czech composer * Fran Maselj (pen name: ''Podlimbarski'', 1851–1917), author and officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army * Anton Nedvěd (1829–1896), Slovene-Czech composer * Josef Ressel (1793–1857),

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

n engineer and inventor of the naval

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

Simon Rutar Simon Rutar (12 October 1851 – 3 May 1903) was a Slovene historian and geographer. He wrote primarily on the history and geography of the areas that are now part of the Slovenian Littoral, the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the Cr ...

(1851–1903), historian * Edo Šlajmer (1864–1935), physician, founder of modern

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

in Slovenia *

Josip Stritar Josip Stritar (6 March 1836 – 25 November 1923) was a Slovene writer, poet, essayist, the first aesthetic critic, playwright, publisher and translator. Life Stritar spent his early childhood in his home village of Podsmreka in rural Lower ...

(1836–1923), poet and literary critic * Ivan Tušek (1835–1877), natural scientist and writer *

Valentin Vodnik Valentin Vodnik (3 February 1758 – 8 January 1819) was a Carniolan priest, journalist and poet of Slovene descent. He was active in the late Enlightenment period. He is well known for his contributions in writing materials that lifted the p ...

(1758–1819), poet and editor

References

{{Coord, 46, 3, 37.98, N, 14, 30, 42.67, E, type:landmark_region:SI, display=title Parks in Ljubljana Cemeteries in Slovenia Bežigrad District 18th-century establishments in Carniola 1770s establishments in the Habsburg Monarchy 1779 establishments in Europe Jože Plečnik buildings Buildings and structures completed in 1936