Javorca - a memorial of reconciliation above the Tolminka River

At the foot of the mountains, high above the Tolminka River in western Slovenia, in a long and secluded valley, there is a small, wooden church. It is a sacred place, a memorial of reconciliation, the Memorial Church of the Holy Spirit in Javorca.

I had been in the valley a few times already, but I thought it was the right time to return. We are fully immersed in the summer; the temperatures are reaching 30 degrees Celsius and more. At the beginning of the weekend, they were announcing some rain and storms and the weathercast was showing that the temperatures would go down a little bit. That is why we’ve decided to go for a walk in the Javorca valley. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was wrong, and the air was still quite hot and humid, but we still had a great day in this peaceful valley.

The road that leads from Tolmin to Javorca is very narrow, but to preserve the natural environment, there is a special traffic regime in the summer months (high season). The road is closed for cars and you can reach the valley on foot, by bike, or by taking the shuttle minibus from Tolmin.

There are 8,5 kilometres from Tolmin to the Javorca memorial. We’ve decided to take the minibus up to the valley and return on foot.

We parked the car in Tolmin and jumped on the minibus that was waiting for us at the main bus station (tickets can be bought online or on the spot). The drive was pleasant, but yes, the road is narrow, and I noticed that my wife was quiet. I guess she was thinking that this was definitely not the road where two cars could meet. The minibus brought us up to the valley and we started our walk to the church. There is about 15-20 minutes’ walk uphill to reach the church.

This small wooden shrine is dedicated to fallen Austro-Hungarian defenders of the Isonzo Front battlefield (1915–1917). The church was built by Austro-Hungarian soldiers who were skilled in various trades.

The lower part of the church and the stairs are made of stones, while the upper part is made of wood. When you reach the entrance to the church and take a breath from the steep climb and the uphill walk, you have a magnificent view of the surrounding mountains.

Above the entrance rises a bell tower with a solar clock and the inscription PAX (peace). The exterior is adorned with the crests of the 18 provinces that formed the Austro-Hungarian empire, plus the crests of Rijeka and Trieste.

The shrine is a great example of Secession art. The interior of the church is painted blue and black combined with gold ornaments.

Beside the beautiful and powerful interior and prevalent blue colour, visitors cannot overlook the big oak panels. The panels symbolise the pages of a memorial book. In this "book," you can find the names of 2565 Austro – Hungarian soldiers who fell on surrounding battlefields and are buried in the military cemetery in Loče pri Tolminu.

This more than 100-year-old church (construction was done in 1916) was well preserved thanks to the efforts of many generations. The last one was done after the strong earthquake in 1998; renovation ended in 2005, and then painting and the bell tower were restored in 2016 and 2017. There is a small entrance fee to visit the interior of the church.

The Church of the Holy Spirit has proclaimed peace for many decades. During the wars, it provided shelter and some consolation to soldiers of various creeds. Today, it is still a symbol of peace and reconciliation, as it is the location of Catholic mass on White Sunday and Orthodox mass on St.Vitu’s day.

Just by coincidence, when we were visiting the church, there was the Orthodox celebration and mass taking place. We visited the church before the mass and left the location before the ceremony started.

The church was placed on the list of particularly important European historical and cultural heritage in 2007 and received the European Heritage label in 2018.

This hidden valley of the Tolminka River also encloses some Alpine pastures. Only a short walk from the church is Alpine Pasture Polog, where you can buy cheese and cottage cheese.

Further on, there is Apline Pasture Prode. We’ve walked towards it, but we just want to reach the Tolminka river and I wanted to show to my son the "funny way" how you cross the driver. Of course, he had to try it 😊.

We refreshed ourselves a little bit with the cold water and started our walk back to Tolmin. On the way back, we stopped at one of the bunkers. In the period between the wars, the area was right on the border between Italy and Yugoslavia and in 1930s, the Italian army built three large concrete bunkers. It was really impressive to see how large the bunker is.

With a light on my phone, we walked a part of the bunker, which was really refreshing in the hot summer air, but honestly, it was great to be back on the daily light and not thinking of all the horrors of the war.

While having fun in the valley, we almost forgot that we had to walk all the way down to the car. At the beginning, we had a jumpy step, but the sun was really strong and the air was getting hotter and hotter. Especially in the last part of the walk, as it was on asphalt and without any shadow of the trees. Two-thirds of our family (my wife and son) were almost dragging their feet on the asphalt, and they were barely speaking. I thought it was better not to make any comment and I was just hoping that we would reach the car soon.