Aljaž Tower () or the Triglav Tower () is a tower, a storm shelter and a triangulation point on the summit of Mount

Triglav Triglav (; ; ), with an elevation of , is the highest mountain in Slovenia and the highest peak of the Julian Alps. The mountain is the pre-eminent symbol of the Slovene nation, appearing on the Coat of arms of Slovenia, coat of arms and Flag ...

in northwestern

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. Along with Triglav, it is a landmark of Slovenia and a symbol of the Slovenehood. The tower was designed by

Jakob Aljaž Jakob Aljaž (July 6, 1845 – May 4, 1927) was a Slovene Roman Catholic priest, composer and mountaineer. Aljaž was born in a small Upper Carniolan village of Zavrh pod Šmarno Goro, northeast of Ljubljana, in what was then the Austrian Empi ...

, a priest in the

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( ; ; ) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The largest town in the region is Kranj, and other urban centers include Kamnik, Jesenice, Jesenice, Jesenice, Domžale and ...

n village of Dovje, who also had it erected, in 1895. Today it is owned by the state, tended by the and stands on a parcel belonging to the

Municipality of Bohinj The Municipality of Bohinj () is a municipality in the Upper Carniola region of northwest Slovenia. Its seat is the settlement of Bohinjska Bistrica. The municipality had 5,222 inhabitants in 2002. Settlements In addition to the municipal seat ...

History

In early 1895, hoping to be able to restrain the increased interest of foreigners in the Slovene mountains, Aljaž drew up with a chalk on the floor of his room in the Parish of Dovje plans for a cylindrical tower with a flag on its top. In April that year, he purchased the summit of Triglav for the sum of one

florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...

from the then Municipality of Dovje. Having done so, he secured himself the right to erect a building on his own real property. The tower was constructed from iron and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

-coated

sheet steel Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Thicknesses can vary significantly; extremely thin sheets are considered foil or leaf, and pieces thicker than 6 mm (0.25 in) are considered plate, ...

by Anton Belec from Šentvid near Ljubljana. He and four workers brought the parts of the tower to the summit of Triglav and put the tower together in only five hours on 7 August 1895. Its opening ceremony and blessing took place in a small circle on 22 August that year. Aljaž donated the shelter to the Alpine Association of Slovenia. In the beginning, there were three four-legged chairs, a summit register, a spirit stove, and the image ''The Triglav Panorama'' by Marko Pernhart in the tower. It was later repainted and renovated several times by Alojz Knafelc and others. In the

communist era A communist era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of communist rule. Current communist states China The Chinese Communist ...

, as the highest point of the former Yugoslavia, it was painted red and decorated with a

red star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...

. However, it has more or less retained its original appearance. The star was removed shortly before the dissolution of Yugoslavia. On the proclamation of Slovene independence in June 1991, the

flag of Slovenia The national flag of Slovenia () features three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red, with the coat of arms of Slovenia located in the upper hoist side of the flag centred in the white and blue bands. The coat of arms is a shield ...

was ceremonially raised at the tower. On 5 October 1999, the tower and its immediate surroundings were proclaimed a site of national cultural importance for Slovenia. The tower was removed from the summit by helicopter for restoration on September 7, 2018, and put back on 3 October same year.

Gallery

File:AljazevStolp3027.jpg, Summit view with the Aljaž Tower File:AljazevStolp3045.jpg, Inside the Aljaž Tower, showing its view orientation map

References

External links

Picture/panorama Peak of Triglav
Virtual panorama. *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aljaz Tower Towers in Slovenia Towers completed in 1895 Triglav Cultural monuments of Slovenia