Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and-span modern rooms and all sorts of sports facilities - from swimming pool and sauna
to bicycles. Some rooms have views of the Karavanke range, others of Mt Triglav itself.
CAMPGROUND
Camping Šobec €
( 535 37 00;
www.sobec.si
; Šobčeva cesta 25; camping per adult €10.60-13.30, child
€8-9.90, bungalows for 2 €75-120, for 3-6 €94-150; late Apr-Sep; )
The largest (15
hectares with 500 sites) and arguably the best-equipped campground in Slovenia is in
Lesce, about 2.5km northwest of Radovljica. Situated on a small lake near a bend of the
Sava Dolinka River, the campground can accommodate up to 1500 people in tents and
bungalows.
THE BOARDS & THE BEES
Radovljica is known throughout Slovenia as a centre for beekeeping, an integral part of Slovenian agriculture
since the 16th century. Slovenians were at the forefront in developing early ways to improve beekeeping tech-
niques, including the invention of what became known as the
kranjič
hive, with removable boxes that resembled a
chest of drawers. This created multiple hives and solved an early problem of damaging an entire hive when the
honeycomb was removed. It also led to the development of one of Slovenia's most important forms of folk art.
The
kranjič
hives are constructed with front boards above the entrance, and enterprising beekeepers soon began
the practice of painting and decorating these panels with religious and other motifs. Radovljica's Beekeeping Mu-
seum (
Click here
)
has an extensive collection on hand, and some of the artwork is nothing short of phenomenal.
The first panels, dating back to the mid-18th century, were painted in a 'folk baroque' style and the subjects
were taken from the Old and New Testaments (Adam and Eve, the Virgin Mary, and especially patient Job, the
patron of beekeepers), and history (the Turkish invasions, Napoléon, and the Counter-Reformation, with Martin
Luther being driven to hell by a devil).
The most interesting panels show the foibles, rivalries and humour of the human condition. A devil may be
sharpening a gossip's tongue on a grindstone or two women fighting over a man's trousers (ie his hand in mar-
riage). A very common illustration shows the devil exchanging old wives for nubile young women - to the delight
of the husbands.
The painting of beehive panels in Slovenia enjoyed its golden age between about 1820 and 1880; after that the
art form went into decline. The introduction of a new and much larger hive by Anton Žnidaršič at the end of the
19th century obviated the need for small illustrations, and the art degenerated into kitsch.
