Kropa, the blacksmiths' village below Jelovica

What to see in Kropa, five centuries of forging

The history of iron forging shaped Kropa’s centre, now protected. As you arrive you’re greeted by the houses of the leading ironworkers, the water barriers and equipment along the Kroparica stream, and the Vigenjc Vice forge, the only one of its kind left in Slovenia. At the far end of the village, beside the Jamnik road, stand the remains of a 14th-century smelting furnace, the Slovenska peč, which the Radovljica tourist board considers Slovenia’s oldest surviving furnace and among Europe’s oldest.

From the 15th century Kropa was the centre of hand forging. Its main product was nails, sold right across Europe. The tradition lives on at the UKO Kropa artistic blacksmiths’ workshop and with several villagers who still work iron.

The Iron Forging Museum

The Iron Forging Museum is in Klinar House, in the middle of the square, a typical ironworkers’ building from the late 18th century, and the Radovljica tourist board describes it as Slovenia’s first technical museum. It brings together the traditions of Kropa and neighbouring Kamna Gorica, with models that are set in motion for visitors, of Kropa in the 19th century, the foundries, the water-powered bellows and a nail forge. One room displays 94 types and sizes of nail, and the ethnological collection shows the life of blacksmiths’ families.

The former drawing room has a Baroque wooden coffered ceiling with three oil paintings, and in the projection room you can watch two 1950s documentaries about Kropa’s blacksmiths and carol singers. It’s run by Radovljica Municipality Museums, like the Radovljica beekeeping museum, and the seasonal hours are in the table. On Tuesdays in July and August you can visit the Vigenjc Vice forge and watch nails forged by hand.

Festivals and churches

The big celebration is the Blacksmiths’ Festival on the first weekend of July. On the eve of St Gregory’s Day, children float small, colourful hand-made houses on the old millpond. Kropa also has two churches, St Leonard’s and the Church of the Mother of God, which grew from an image of the Virgin found in 1707 by seven boys and became a place of pilgrimage.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Radovljica before prices climb.

Jamnik and other viewpoints

Paths lead from the village to the Vodiška planina pasture and to the church of St Primus and Felician at Jamnik, one of Gorenjska’s great viewpoints. If you’re still in the mood for heritage, Brezje and its basilica are a few kilometres away. And if villages like this are your thing, I’ve gathered the ones I like best under the prettiest villages in Slovenia.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Radovljica and choose by the reviews.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Radovljica before prices climb.