Vizo, Kralj and me went on a hike to one of the highest mountains in the vicinity. We gathered at 7 a.m. and started hiking towards our first stop.
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| Quick look in the manganese mine on the Shepherd's path. Beginnings of mining of manganese ore on the slopes of Begunjščica reach back to the early 19th century. Initially, ore was transported by self weighted sleighs in the winter and by single ax carts without the rear wheels along narrow paths in the summertime. The last part of the cart was sliding on the floor and decelerating it. In the valley the ore got unloaded to the ordinary carts and was driven to ironworks of Gorenjska. Manganese ore was important to ironworks for the ability of manganese compounds to desulfur pig iron and give it an elastic alloy. With the discovery of the new process, the need for manganese ore increased sharply. Technical Director of Kranjska Industrijska družba (KID), Lambert von Pantz added to the iron ore manganese ore, which was dug in Begunjščica. He achieved that the KID was the first blast furnace in the world that obtained an alloy of iron and manganese - feromanganese, which brought worldwide fame to the inventor and to ironworks of Javornik. They were awarded for their product in exhibitions in Vienna (1873) and Philadelphia (1876). In Florjan, Ferdinand and Maximiljan pit around 130000 tons of ore, containing about 30% of manganese, were dug up until the closure of the mining district in 1915. Source: from the sign next to the mine. |
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| Quick descent |
Nice six our hike from home
On this day we also have a holiday in
Slovenia.
Statehood Day commemorates the country's declaration of independence from
Yugoslavia in 1991. My neighbour Vid was part of the celebration programme that occurred in Ljubelj and we went up there to see it. After the official programme we had a free goulash.
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| Kids from Podljubelj primary school waiting for their act |
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| Vid and his performance |
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