Slovenia is a young country but with a very long and interesting history. Its territory is small (about the size of New Jersey) and chicken-shaped (this is not relevant, but it's curious anyway! :o)) and lies near to Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, that is, right in the place where Western Europe and Eastern Europe meet. That geographic position allows Slovenia to take part in an interesting exchange which enriches the country's cultural background with diversity. Slovenian traditions are, therefore, many and varied, since they are influenced by the country's cultual and natural diversity.
The transcendental beauty of tradition lies in the people: in the love they have for what they feel that belong to them, in the lives of dedication to a craft, in the secrets that pass from generation to generation. This happens in Slovenia too.
[Feasts]
[Handicrafts and other activities]
[Gastronomy]
Feasts
One of the most important traditions in Slovenia is related to Carnival. The "strange" figure colorized in red in the Home page is called Kurent and is a mythical pagan creture who, according to the people's belief, chases Winter away and welcomes Spring. Nowadays no-one believes in the Kurent's power anymore, but the tradition is more alive than ever and is now celebrated all around the country, not just in its original place, Ptuj. On the last Sunday before Shrove Tuesday Kurents go through the streets running and jumbing for the bells that hang from their belts to ring out loud and scare the cold Winter away. There are other customs linked to this tradition (such as the girls offering handkerchiefs to the Kurents and the housewifes breaking clay pots at the Kurents' feet for good luck), which, since "who tells a tale always adds a word" (this is a Portuguese expression, "quem conta um conto acrescenta-lhe um ponto", with no equivalent in English as far as we know, but it is easy to understand the meaning, isn't it?), are different from one place to another.
On the Wednesday after Shrove Tuesday, the 40-day period before Easter, called Lent, starts. The large majority of the Slovenes are catholic and, of course, celebrate Easter. The Slovenian celebration is not very different from the Portuguese one, but has a few interesting details. On Palm Sunday the Slovenes take olive branches to church in order to have them blessed by the priest, and bells don't ring from Good Friday to Easter Sunday morning. On Easter Saturday the family puts some goods in a wooden basket (the contents of the basket are not always the same, but eggs and cake are always among them) and takes it to the church to be blessed too. On Easter Sunday, after the morning mass, the blessed food is eaten. A very particular custom in Slovenia is painting eggs or decorating them (with wax, small engravings, etc.) in order to offer them to family and friends (in an ancient tradition painted eggs were offered to the loved one, like a love letter).
Christmas is also a very important holiday for the Slovenes, and the Christmas traditions in Slovenia are familiar to most Catholic countries: the Christmas tree, the Crib and other decorations, postcards wishing a merry Christmas and a happy new year, family gathering, the Midnight Mass. When they come back home after the Midnight Mass, presents are opened. Slovenian children believe in Santa Claus (whose name is Bozicek) and write him letters telling him what they wish for.
Handicrafts and other activities
Bee-keeping is one of the most traditional activities in Slovenia. Its roots in the country date from the Roman Era, and the Slovenes have always been among the best bee-keepers in the world. In the 19th century a new subspecies of honey bee was discovered in Slovenia. It's called "carniolian bee" (Apis mellifera carnica, Pollmann 1879) after "Carniola", the region of Slovenia where it was discovered, and it's one of the most widely spread honey bee subspecies in the world. But the most interesting thing in Slovenian bee-keeping is original and exclusive of the country: the painted beehives. It's impossible to determine when beehives started being painted in Slovenia, but the oldest dated one is from 1758. The subjects of the paintings are many and varied, but some of the most common are religion and domestic life.
Another typical Slovenian activity, mostly in the Idrija region is lace. Know world-wide it was in the 17th century that lace begun being an important activity for this region: until then, mercury extraction used to be the main economic activity,but several tecnological innovations took place what originated unnemployment; thus, many unnemployed people, mainly women, turned to lace as a source of income. This was how this activity evolved and became one of the greatest symbols of this region. Idrija's lace school, founded in 1876, is still active and reached international fame.
Other materials are handicrafted in Slovenia, like wood, steel, clay, glass and straw. The results are true master-pieces, just like the typical wood works from Ribnica. Clogs and barrels are also handicrafted products with great popularity in Slovenia, where the "toplar" hayracks for drying hay are also very detailed and beautiful. It's imperative to mention Valentin Zupan, a very famous accordion constructor who makes them completely by hand.
In spite of its small territorial dimension, Slovenia has, just like other countries, different types of houses and typical costumes and dances that vary from region to region. The costumes in the picture are Gorenjska's; notice the magnificent handkerchief with golden embroidereds in the female costume.
Gastronomy
- Food
One of the Slovenian specialities is called "Struklji" (flour "rolls" with variable stuffing, which usually includes meat, vegetables and cheese) and has about seventy different ways of being made. Other famous typical Slovenian dishes are "Klobasa", "Zavitek", "Zganci" ou "Zlikrofi", for example. Mushroom dishes are also traditional, many even exclusive of Slovenia. Air-dried ham, sausages and cheese (specially Bohinj's) are also partof the Slovenian list of gastronomic specialities.
But the most important part of Slovenian cooking is confectionery: the quantity and quality of cakes, cookies, pies and tarts made in Slovenia is truly impressive, not to talk about the many different types of bread made in Slovenia. "Flacanti" are among the most traditional cookies, while "Prekmurska gibanica" is the name of a very famous cake. But the most famous of all is called "Potica": if there is a Slovenian national cake, it surely is this nut cake. Many other names could be said but we chose only one more: Kremsnite, the traditional cake from Bled, the only traditional Slovenian cake we tried and, to be honest... we just loved it! :o)
- Wine
With three winegrowing regions, Primorska (southweast of the country), Posavje (east/southeast) and Podravje (northeast), Slovenia produces twenty white wines and twelve red wines. Among the red wines, there is one called "Modra Portugalka", which means "Blue Portuguese". Although at first glance it seems weird that a wine which doesn't even exist in Portugal has that name, some winegrowers from Austria (where around 80% of this wine is grown) think that "Blue Portuguese" is of Portuguese origin but disappeared from our country some 150, 200 years ago.
Known and appreciated all over the world, Slovenian wine had seven "vintage" years in the 20th century (1917, 1942, 1947, 1952, 1958, 1971, 1983) and is a great tourist attraction in Slovenia, with around twenty and cellars in many different cities.
