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Brotherhood: St Catherine’s Church

This clearing with the most beautiful views of Bled, the Karavanke, the Kamnik-Savinja Alps and the Ljubljana Basin is known as the Altar of Gorenjska. The special energy of the place was also felt by people in pre-Christian times, who built temples known as birdhouses here.

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Intersting facts

What you can see at this point

Altar of Gorenjska

This clearing with its wonderful views over the Gorenjska region was already a place of inspiration that stirred the imagination of the early Slav settlers – believers in nature – in pre-Christian times.

As you reach the top of the climb from Šum Falls, you come to a forest clearing with a romantic view extending over Bled, the Karavanke, the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, the Pokljuka plateau and all the way to the Ljubljana Basin. Standing in the clearing is a church dedicated to St Catherine, which France Prešeren, Slovenia’s greatest poet and author of its national anthem, called the Altar of Gorenjska (Gorenjska being the Slovene name for the northern portion of the former Duchy of Carniola, known in German as Oberkrain). Prešeren’s own birthplace was not far from here, in Vrba, and he liked to come here to enjoy the peaceful surroundings and admire the view.

Brotherhood

Evidence of the great age of St Catherine’s Church is provided by surviving written accounts from the year 1500 that talk about the brotherhood of Hom. At that time it was the custom to slaughter a cow at the top of the hill each year. The inhabitants of Zasip and Muže would attend the sacrificial ceremony and each would receive a piece of meat.

Birdhouses

Even in pre-Christian times, people viewed Hom as a special, sacred place. As you emerge from the forest, you will see an area on the left-hand side opposite the church where a so-called birdhouse once stood. Birdhouses were prehistoric temples built on special hills, where people came into contact with their deity through the intervention of divine messengers – birds.