Ig, the two-letter village where people lived on stilts 6,000 years ago

The Ig pile dwellings, World Heritage

Ig has 2,426 people and heads a municipality of 7,974 covering 98.5 km². It is recorded in 1249, though the present village used to be called Studenec, after the strong springs of the Iščica in its centre, and today it is the only place in Slovenia with a two-letter name. In 1875 workers deepening a ditch north of the village turned up wooden piles, pottery and bones, and Karel Dežman began digging the first pile dwellings. They yielded the idol of the Ljubljana Marshes, a figure about 6,000 years old found in 1876. Two groups of pile dwellings at Ig have been World Heritage since 2011.

What to see, Morostig and the village

In the village centre, the Morostig house tells the story of the marshes and those who explored them in nine sections. From there a marked path of about 2 km leads to the rebuilt village, with five huts and a logboat, which you may only enter with a guide. Tickets cost €12, or €30 for a family. Morostig is closed on Mondays, and from 28 October shorter winter hours apply.

A Roman past

More than 120 Roman inscriptions have been found around Ig, placing it fourth in Slovenia after Ptuj, Emona and Celje. Many tombstones are built into churches, and the church of St Michael at Iška vas holds a lapidarium. At Staje, the Stari dedec is a tombstone carved into the living rock. Above the village, on Pungart hill, an Iron Age hillfort has been excavated, and below it stands Zonek castle, from 1436, now a women’s prison and closed to visitors.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Ig for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

Iški vintgar and the countryside

To the south, the seven Draga ponds, dug in the 18th century, are a nature reserve, with the European pond turtle, white water lilies and a 3.2 km forest trail. Beyond them, the Iška river opens the Iški vintgar gorge, cool in summer, with the Votli kamen, a hollow rock worn by the water. From there you can climb Krim, the municipality’s highest peak, where between 1817 and 1828 the starting point of the first land survey of Carniola, Carinthia and the Littoral was set, still Slovenia’s most important survey point.

Getting there from Ljubljana

From Ljubljana you can come on city bus 19I, by bike along Ižanska cesta or by car on the A2. To carry on, there are the Ljubljana Marshes and, more broadly, central Slovenia. Across the marsh, Brezovica has Lake Podpeč, 51 m deep.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Ig for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.