Slovenian mountain attachment as a hallmark of a nation

Ogrin, Matej (author), Mikša, Peter (author)

Like many other places in the Alps, Slovenian mountains were inhabited as early as in prehistoric times. Since then, mountains have been not only an environment for hunting and gathering, but also a refuge and in some areas sacred places. Over the centuries, Slovenes have developed a unique relationship with the mountains, especially since the nineteenth century, and mountains have become an integral part of the national identity. Slovenia’s highest mountain, Triglav, has been adopted as the most important national symbol. Mountains have thus acquired a unique meaning in the consciousness of every Slovene. Mountains feature importantly in Slovenian literature and in culture more generally, in winter and summer sports, mountaineering, leisure, nature protection, and historical tradition. This paper discusses the importance of the mountain tradition for the Slovenian nation. It turns out that the perception of the mountains is very intense and positive, even though the territory 15 of Slovenia does not particularly stand out in terms of high elevations, and the vast majority of the population lives in the lowlands.

• Language: English
• Keywords: mountain geography, history of mountains, identity, Slovenian Alps
• Work type: Other
• Typology: 1.16 - Independent Scientific Component Part or a Chapter in a Monograph
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 257-271
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-180739
• UDC: 913:551.4.035(234.323.6Triglav)
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-99017-5_15
• COBISS.SI-ID: 270871043
• Publication date in RUL: 16.03.2026

Record is a part of a monograph

• Title: Discourses on mountains of Montenegro and Slovenia
• Editors: Matija Zorn, Olga Pelcer-Vujačić, Peter Mikša
• Place of publishing: Cham
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2026
• ISBN: 978-3-031-99016-8
• COBISS.SI-ID: 267673091
• Collection title: Historical geography and geosciences (Print)
• Collection ISSN: 2520-1379

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: geografija gora, zgodovina gora, identiteta, Alpski svet, Slovenija, Triglav

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P6-0101-2022
• Name: Geografija Slovenije