Benedik Inn

One of the most attractive inns in Upper Carniola

One of the oldest inns in Upper Carniola, dating back to Napoleon's time.

Benedik Inn known locally as pr Primaš, is closely connected with the sieve-making craft in Stražišče. The making of sieves appeared in the 16thcentury. When the owners of the extensiveestate, the Freising bishops, abandoned viticulture on Šmarjetna gora and stopped running the manor farm, many people of Stražišče were left without a means of survival. From the 11th to the 13th century the bishops settled Bavarian farmers so that the estate would bring a profit. They divided the land into agricultural units called hides and later farms. Farming did not bring enough food for survival. The people of Stražišče were also affected by other afflictions, plagues, famines, the struggles of feudal lords for the said possessions, and above all the dues in the Middle Ages. Since the number of inhabitants grew, the farming households built modest wooden houses for relatives who had no share in the inheritance of the farms. In this way the class of cottagers came into being, which settled in the upper part of the village. The boundary between the poorer part of the village and the farms ran from the church of St Bartholomew towards St Jošt. ( today's Pševska cesta). Although farms later appeared in this part as well, the cottagers' part of the village remained strictly separate until the 20th century. It is therefore no wonder that the cottagers took up the sieve-making craft, which meant a modest living. In the winter time sieves were made on the farms as well. More about the sieve-making craft can be found in the book Stražiše pa Strašan.

the Benedik Inn so let us place it in the sieve-makers' part of the village. Since it was the only one in this part, ( in the farming end there were four), it was an important gathering place for the sieve-makers. We may assume that a sieve-maker's visit to an inn in the farming end was a dangerous experience even at the beginning of the 20th century. The farm lads and masters would provoke the intruder and sometimes even beat him.

The farm and dwelling building grew up to meet the needs of the trade, so it is very varied, with numerous extensions and roofs at different pitches. Despite the many changes and additions, the owners have preserved the history of the farm. The building thus draws our attention to three periods: the pilgrimage to St Jošt, the arrival of the French in our parts and the Second World War.

Inn lies above the Trenča stream, which once also meant a traffic artery. Like every sieve-maker's house, this one too had an entrance at the front and an exit at the back of the house. Because it is on a hill, the exit was one storey lower. On the lower back door a Frenchman is painted, created at the time of the arrival of the French in our parts in 1813. We assume that there was already an inn in the house at that time, or that drinks were already served in it.

Our ancestors depicted the French in a humorous way above all on beehive panel ends. Well known are the panels showing a Carniolan woman rocking a Frenchman. In Stražišče they have preserved the painting of a French grenadier in full dress drawn on an entrance door. This is the only way of mocking the French so far known in our country.

The appearance of a Frenchman on the door can be linked with a custom in Stražišče. The names of poor sieve-makers who could not pay their drinking bill or another debt were written on the door. Their debt was marked with strokes. Even between the wars, "a ride on the door" meant shame for the whole family.

In the years 1730 to 1760 there was a pilgrimage on Sveti Jošt. It began at the Calvary by the three crosses. Because Stražišče was was criss-crossed with numerous streams that flowed down from Šmarjetna gora and Sveti Jošt, the pilgrimage route ran along the edge of Šmarjetna gora below the estate of Schrotenthurn Castle, through Stražišče. The Strašani marked it with numerous signs. With recesses on the corners of the houses, where they placed a male or a female saint.

The paintings we find on the house in question signified the standing of the farm. A fresco in a fine Baroque frame shows us St Jošt, who points the way with his hand,beside him are painted the churches on St Jošt and on Šmarjetna gora, and below them the Šempeter manor.

The Trenča stream often flooded. It prevented the owners from carrying on the sieve-making trade, the shop and the running of the inn undisturbed. Gradually they extended the building and adapted it to its purpose.

They took advantage of the steepness of the terrain. The lower part of the cellar was built over with a stable. On it they placed a wooden house. Later they added rooms above the stable which made possible a trade in sieves. Before the First World War, for the needs of the inn, they extended the kitchen above the entrance and added a larger room with a farmhouse stove. With vaults they decorated the new entrance from the upper meadow. Between the wars they built on one more room called the salon. They arranged a space for the shop. After the Second World War they extended the salon and built a flat above it. The rooms above the stable also changed their purpose into a flat. The rooms for the shop made it possible to extend the kitchen. When they gave up farming, they fitted out the vaulted stable and gained one more room for catering activity. They covered the summer garden, which ensures a homely feel in the idyllic village surroundings. Thus we find the building in its present form.

The surroundings also took on a new appearance. The old sieve-maker's house was demolished in 1969 and in its place a bowling alley was built, which is no longer on offer today. The old house opposite the inn served after the war as flats. Later it was converted into guest rooms. The bowls court in the yard had to give way to parking spaces.

Benedik Inn has kept its name from powerful ancestors. Since the family lost its male descendant after the Second World War, the farm and later the inn alone were run by the Rutar family name and today by Mihelič.

The Benedik lineage is related to all the Benediks in Stražišče. From it descend the Graparji, Matevževi, Poklukarji, Joštarji, Puklovi and of course the Primaži.

According to the ancestors identified so far, BOŠTJAN Benedik was born in 1745 on Šmarjetna gora. He married Mina Žan. Two sons were born from the marriage, Primož and Jakob.

PRIMOŽ, born in 1770, married Neža Bajželj. She bore him the sons Matevž, Jože and Janez.

In the Franciscean Cadastre of 1827 the owner of plot number 502 is Matevž and he has building plot number 42. Primož's two building plots have the numbers 39 and 40. He owns eight further plots. This confirms for us that Primož was wealthier than his brother. In the village his standing was such that the house name in the Stražišče manner, pr Primaš, has survived to this day.

His son Matevž, born in 1804, married Marijana Kristan. She bore him the sons Mihael, who continued the Graparji line, Martin, who continued the Poklukarji line, and Jakob.

JANEZ was born in 1809. He married Frančiška Hafner. She bore him eleven children. His son Franc was born in 1838 and continued the Puklovi line. They had an inn and were engaged in the sieve-making trade.

The Benedik, or Primož, line was continued by VALENTIN, born in 1845. He married Marija Kalan. She bore him three children. When she died in 1880, Valentin married Marija Tratnik. She gave birth to a son France. Valentin expanded the farming activity with a sieve-making manufactory, set up the inn and a shop. When his brother France Puklov died, he bought his share of the business. He merged the farm with Matevž's estate. We may say that during his stewardship the farm and the sieve-making business reached their peak. The successful work was continued by his son FRANCE, but the sieve-making craft was already in decline. France solved the problems, adapted to the crisis and to the changes in the village. In Kranj industry was arising and the sieve makers were taking employment in large numbers. Between the wars France was exceptionally hard-working. He was a member of numerous newly founded societies in Kranj. He did gymnastics at the Sokol and in 1922 founded the Sokol society in Stražišče. He was active also with the Stražišče firefighters. The Second World War came. He immediately joined the Liberation Front and was the first secretary of the first Liberation Front committee in Stražišče. After being betrayed he was imprisoned by the Germans and shot as a hostage, the family was expelled and their property confiscated. After the war his wife Pavla and his daughters Vera and Stanislava returned home.

FRANCE was born in 1885. He married in Gradec a neighbour, Pavla Žontar, known locally as Kriparjeva, from Stražišče. She bore him a son Marjan, who was killed in an accident on Jalovec, a son Zdravko, who fell with the partisans as a fighter of the Kokra detachment, and two daughters Vera and Stanislava.

AfterII. World War the inn was run by France's wife Pavla.Later it was taken over by their daughter VERA and her husband Edvin Rutar. In 1942 their daughter was born, MAJA, who continued the hospitality tradition.

Maja Rutar married Miro Mihelič from Sodražica. They had a daughter, Savina, and a son BOŠTJAN, who runs the inn today.

Matevž Oman