The Second World War was one of the hardest trials for humanity. At that time the Slovenes too, like other free-thinking nations, organised themselves in the struggle against fascism and Nazism. A speciality of the Slovenian resistance movement were the hidden hospitals. They built them in forests that were hard to reach, in precipitous ravines and in underground caves. They saved lives in circumstances that we can hardly imagine today.
After the capitulation of Italy, in the autumn of 1943, Dr Viktor Volčjak, on the advice of the local man Janez Peternelj, began with a group of fighters the construction of a new hospital in the hard-to-reach Pasica gorge at Dolenji Novaki in the Cerkno area. With the devoted help of the local people the construction proceeded gradually right up to the end of the war, when at the bottom of the ravine beside the Čerinščica stream 14 wooden huts and several auxiliary buildings were huddled together. Already during the war it was named after the partisan doctor Franja Bojc Bidovec, who also led it for most of the time. In the central department of Franja, which today we know as the Franja Partisan Hospital, 578 more seriously wounded were treated, and in the outer departments around 300 more lightly wounded. Among the wounded there were, besides Slovenes, also members of the nations from the former Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, Italians, Poles, Frenchmen, two Austrians and two Americans.
After the war the Franja Partisan Hospital became a symbol of the partisan movement and of its extensive and exceptionally well organised medical activity. After the flood that destroyed it in September 2007 the monument was almost entirely reconstructed. On the basis of previously prepared plans and documentation the huts and auxiliary buildings were renewed, copies of objects were made and replacement objects were obtained. In the restoration we were guided by the wish to preserve to the greatest possible extent the message of the monument and its symbolic value.
The Franja Partisan Hospital is a cultural monument of national importance, is entered on the Tentative List of World Heritage at UNESCO and bears the European Heritage Label. Despite the loss of authentic material heritage it remains a symbol of international connection and resistance, and above all a precious memorial to humanity, nobility and comradeship.
CLOSED to visitors until further notice, while the damage from the July 2023 storm is repaired.
Information:
tel.: +386 5 37 23 180
e-mail: [email protected]
Admission/person:
- adults –
7,00 € - adults/group (min. 10 people) –
6,00 €, group with a guide – 7,50 € - young people (primary pupils, secondary pupils, students) –
5,00 €, - youth group –
4,50 €, group with a guide – 5,50 €
Guide service/group:
(surcharge for groups numbering fewer than 10 people)
- youth groups – 35,00 €
- adult groups – 50,00 €
The access path leads from the car park by the stream, over ramps and along newly arranged wooden walkways to the Pasica gorge (from the car park to the gorge is about 10 minutes' walk). Explanatory boards are set up along the way. Visits are individual, guided tours we organise only for groups announced in advance, and a surcharge is required. A guided tour lasts on average 1hour 30 minutes. The highest number of visitors per group is 50 people. We advise against the visit for people with restricted mobility and for the disabled. We recommend suitable footwear (trainers, hiking boots).
Location coordinates:
46.150073,14.027254
