A short Historical Overview of Architecture in Slovenia
Prehistoric settlement
The earliest evidence of a built heritage in the territory of present-day Slovenia dates from the 14th and late 13th centuries BCE, when the tumulus culture gave way to the Urnfield culture in Central Europe, leading to a sharp increase in the number of settled communities. The built heritage of this period typically focused on the fortified settlement, often situated on a hilltop or at a river-bend, with dry-stone or wooden ramparts.
One of the most important early Urnfield sites is the Bronze Age settlement of Oloris near Dolnji Lakoš (Lendava), one of the few systematically excavated settlements of that period anywhere in the region, which incorporated large aisled houses built on stilts with walls of wattle and daub.
Roman remains
From around 10 BCE the territory of Slovenia was subsumed into the Roman Empire; Emona (Ljubljana) was the first Roman town to be established, followed by Poetovio (Ptuj) and Celeia (Celje). Some of Slovenia's best-preserved Roman remains may be found in and around these towns. Other significant Roman archaeological sites in Slovenia include Sermin near Koper and Kučar near Podzemelj, where excavations have chronicled settlements stretching back to prehistoric times, as well as Hrušica, a strategic point on the Roman military and trade route between Aquilea and Emona.
Post-Roman architecture
In the 5th century the Roman Empire began to disintegrate in the face of invasions by the Huns and Germanic tribes, and by the 6th century migrating Slavs from the Carpathian basin had begun to dominate the territory of present-day Slovenia. Successfully resisting the Turkic Avars, they eventually formed the first united Slavic political entity, the duchy of Carantania, based at the Krn Castle, north of today's Klagenfurt (Austria).
One of the largest and most important post-Roman sites in the eastern Alpine region is Tinje, above Loka pri Žusmu, where excavations have revealed seven partially-destroyed wooden houses, parts of which may be attributed to the period from the 7th-9th centuries. Recent scholarship has shown the site to be of crucial importance for understanding the ethnogenesis of the Slovenes - the contact between the Romanised indigenous population and the immigrants Slavs is evident in the Roman wall with two towers intended to enclose the immigrant Slavs. The presentation of the site is on view at the Slovenska Bistrica Castle, the detailed documentation, however, can be found in the Opera Instituti Archaeologici Sloveniae series issued by the Institute_of_Archaeology at the ZRC SAZU.
Solitary churches on hilltops are a characteristic feature of Slovenia, which experts link to pre-Christian religious groups and the high shelters of the earliest inhabitants. Some of the churches, which are today mostly in the Baroque architectural style, can be traced back to early pagan times. The most illustrious example is the Church of the Assumption on the island in the lake of Bled in Gorenjska sub alpine region.
Romanesque architecture
The late 10th century saw the emergence of Romanesque architecture, with its thick walls, round arches, sturdy piers, groin vaults, large towers and decorative arcading. Significant Romanesque monuments in Slovenia include Podsreda Castle, the Church of the Assumption of Mary in Koper, the Parish Church of St Martin at Laško, the Church of St George in Ptuj, Mali grad Chapel in Kamnik and the Basilica of the Cistercian Monastery in Stična.
Mali grad ('Little Castle') once comprised a wider fortification but this was torn down in the 16th century, leaving only a two-storey Romanesque chapel with a crypt constructed from the 11th to the 15th centuries. The basilica at Stična Monastery (mid 12th century) contains a nave and aisles, transept and five apses and is the only surviving example of the archaic Cluny II type in Europe. During this period urban churches generally had simple multi-nave plans; an exception was the Church of St George in Ptuj, which acquired a west gallery in the mid-13th century.
Also characteristic of this period were decorated stone portals and stone window panes with banded ornamentation - undoubtedly the work of itinerant masons from Lombardy - which may be seen at several sites, notably at Mali grad Chapel, in surviving fragments of the 12th-century Romanesque palace at Cmurek Castle, and in the earliest Romanesque section of the Chapel of St Martin (formerly St Venceslav) at Domanjševci in the Pomurje Region.
Gothic architecture
From the early 13th century, Romanesque architecture gave way to Gothic, with its characteristic pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses. The monastic orders proved to be the principal catalyst in the spread of Gothic architecture in Slovenia. Important examples include the Benedictine Monastery at Gornji grad, the Cistercian Monastery at Kostanjevica, the Carthusian Monasteries at Žiče and Špitalič and the Monastery of the Order of Teutonic Knights at Križanke (Ljubljana). Urban churches built by mendicant monastic orders typically featured long, narrow presbyteries, eg at Kostanjevica and Gornji Grad.
Later stylistic influences came from Bohemia (the workshop of Peter Parler) via Vienna and Hungary, Parler’s influence is evident in the cut stone details in the old presbytery of Hajdina near Ptuj. The Podravje region (Štajerska) was geographically close to centres of Gothic art in Central Europe and the influences of Gothicism can be seen in St Mary’s Chapel at Celje Abbey Church. In areas closer to the Mediterranean, simple Italian vaulting systems were common, whereas at Holy Trinity in Hrastovlje (14th and 15th centuries) in north Istria the Romanesque tradition remained dominant. At the same time parish churches in Kranj, Škofja Loka, Radovljica, Šentrupert and Cerknica were rebuilt and modernised – their original presbyteries were preserved but their naves were heightened with side aisles into a hall church space with gothic vaults. Smaller provincial churches had exposed roof structures or timber ceilings.
During this period coastal towns began to grow under the influence of Venice and many castles were fortified against Ottoman attacks.
Renaissance and Baroque - Germanic and Italian influences
The period from the early 15th to the early 17th centuries in Europe saw the emergence of Renaissance architecture, which consciously sought to revive and develop certain elements of Classical Greek and Roman material culture, placing emphasis on symmetry, proportion, geometry and the regularity of parts as they had been demonstrated in the architecture of classical antiquity.
The cultural impact of the Renaissance in much of the territory of modern Slovenia was somewhat lessened by religious unrest, peasant uprisings, Ottoman incursions and periodic epidemics. Consequently architectural developments were confined to the vaulting of churches, lighting and the construction of large arcaded courts.
Renaissance influences in Slovene church architecture emanated mainly from Carinthia (eg Barthaelma Firthaler in Kranjska Gora) and Vienna (eg the Church of the Three Magi in Slovenske Gorice). In the church at Dvor, near Polhov Gradec (1525) and Leskovec (1530), archaic shapes and Romanesque forms were revived. Coastal Slovenia had closer links with the Italian Renaissance, and these influences were quickly absorbed into castle architecture.
During the late 16th and early 17th centuries the Austrian government in Graz called in Italian fortification engineers to construct Renaissance-style fortresses at Turjak, Brežice, Krumperk and Hrastovec.
From the 17th century Italian builders introduced Roman and Venetian Baroque forms into Slovenia. Churches were enriched with side chapels, and in 1613–15 the Jesuits rebuilt the medieval church of St James in Ljubljana. The octagonal pilgrimage church (1640–70) at Nova Štifta near Ribnica is a replica of the plan of the Michele Sanmicheli Church in Verona, enriched with the Venetian Baroque of Baldassare Longhena. In 1693 the Accademia Operosorum was founded in Carniola and this helped to spread the Roman Baroque style.
The strong Italian influence continued into the 18th century with the creation of key monuments such as Ljubljana Cathedral, designed by Andrea Pozzo in 1701, the Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity in Ljubljana (1718–26) and the reconstruction of Koper Cathedral and the Minorite Church at Ptuj. A local master named Gregor Maček and his son linked the northern Italian architectural tradition with Venetian ideals and created Ljubljana City Hall (1717–19), as well as churches at Šmarna Gora and Dobrova. The church at Velesovo, built by Candido Zulliani, combined Mediterranean structures with Central European Rococo. The mansions at Zemono and Dobrovo in the Primorska Region were modelled on mainland Venetian villas.