Background
Traveling in Slovenia offers a new adventure at every turn. Join AiP in restoring a 17th century cottage to its original beauty – and then set aside time to go spelunking, cycle through wine country, explore enchanting castles, or tour the beautiful city of Ljubljana.
 AiP has supported community-based preservation projects in Slovenia since 2006, with volunteers working in Oplotnica that year and in Šmartno ob Paki in 2008. This time we will travel to the municipality of Šmarje pri Jelšah, working in the village of Brecljevo. In this village is a 17th century stone and timber cottage that has suffered at the hands of a contractor who misunderstood the value of historic materials and techniques.
Project
 The Brecljevo cottage has a quaint storybook quality to it. It consists of a stone rubble core with large support timbers, which meet in carefully crafted dovetail joints. Its original thatched roof was unfortunately replaced by the contractor who, instead of restoring the cottage, actually caused more damage.
This incident illustrates the importance of conservation skills training and general preservation education. Fortunately, the cottage’s owner is eager to reverse the damage and see the cottage properly restored. AiP and our local preservation partner, Zavod ETNO-EKO, are working with the owner to do so. Once repair and restoration are completed, the cottage will host various community activities.
Conservators are in the processing of assessing the condition of the structural timbers. If they need repair, AiP participants will work with local woodworkers skilled in traditional wood construction techniques to restore them.
The remaining focus will be on repairing the collapsing segments of the stone walls. Participants will learn how to re-lay the stone rubble to blend in with the original stonework. Once the stone wall is stable, the joints will be raked out as needed and repointed with appropriate mortar, as determined by mortar testing.
 We will also undertake the intriguing task of restoring the traditional Slovenian stove, which is a large stone structure used for both heating and cooking. Given sufficient time and people power, participants will also tackle repair of several pieces of wooden furniture and begin to repair the cottage’s flooring.
Stephen Booker, an Australian Conservation Architect and Heritage Consultant, who was involved in AiP’s assessment and documentation project at the Mlinars Cottage in 2008, will be leading the workshop. He will work with local woodworkers and ethnologists to determine the best approach to restoring the cottage and guide participants as they work.
 Although AiP’s workshops are filled with exciting hands-on work, meeting and visiting with community members and seeing regional historic sites are also an important part of the experience. Since this is a great wine-growing region, most visiting is accompanied by tasting the many local wines and liqueurs. One fieldtrip will include a tour of the region's largest wine cellar, under the streets of the city center in Maribor.
Logistics
The workshop will be two weeks in length and participants may register for either one or two weeks. The fee is US$1935 for one week, US$2785 for two weeks, which covers lodging, meals, fieldtrips, workshop materials, instruction and insurance.
 Transportation to Ljubljana is not included and is the responsibility of the participant. You can fly into the international airport at Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia, or arrive by train from a variety of European cities. Airports in Austria (Vienna, Graz, Glagenfurt), Italy (Trieste, Venice), and Croatia (Zagreb) offer convenient train connections to Ljubljana.
Participants may be picked up in Ljubljana, at either the airport or train station, on Sunday prior to the beginning of the workshop. Contact us once you have made your travel arrangements.
Lodging (and most meals) will be at the Bizjak agri-tourism farm, located in the wooded hills outside of Brecljevo. With fields, barn and vineyard shed nearby, guests are kept supplied with good wines and delicious homemade meals. Several family members are skilled musicians willing to fill the evenings with Slovene songs.
Workshop participants may arrive on Sunday of the week they are attending. (Saturday night is not included in the fee unless you are attending for both weeks.) Rooms have either three or four beds, with bath down the hall. One room is available with one double bed, so please tell us at registration if you need a private room.
Work hours at the site are generally Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm. Lunches will be provided at the site. Instruction will be in English.
 Evenings and the weekend are free for exploring the area’s many beautiful sites, and several group fieldtrips are planned. We will tour several sites near Brecljevo, including a visit to the Church of Sv. Rok, one of Slovenia’s foremost monuments of Baroque art. There will also be a one-day trip to Ptuj and Maribor; a two-day weekend trip is being planned to sites in eastern Slovenia.
Depending on your nationality, you may need a visa to enter Slovenia. If you need a visa, apply for a short-term (Type C) visa. Be sure to leave sufficient time for processing, approximately 2-4 months.
The average daytime high in late August is 25 degrees C (77degrees F), and it may be humid at times with afternoon showers. Please bring clothing that is suitable for the weather that will also be protective while working. Please be conscious that safety is an important issue at any work site.
If you need additional information, please contact us at workshops@adventuresinpreservation.org or call +1 303-444-0128.
If you find this project intriguing, but are unable to attend, you can still participate by supporting conservation work in Slovenia and at other project sites with a gift to AiP. Donations are tax deductible and will be used for a variety of needs – to provide participant scholarships, to purchase materials needed for conservation work, or to provide teaching materials, just to name a few.
We have partnered with Groundspring.org to make it easy and
safe for you to donate online:
If you would prefer to mail in a gift, please use our donation form. |
Twitter
