European Heritage Days get under way in Štanjel
Running until 8 October under the theme Heritage Around Us, the festival will feature 400 events free of charge in 148 places across the country.
The events will highlight the use of heritage for other purposes, endangered and disappearing heritage such as rural and industrial heritage, the project's coordinator Nataša Gorenc has said.
At a presentation in Ljubljana on Tuesday, she also announced a focus on heritage which is not yet recognised as such, the 20th-century architecture.
Štanjel has been chosen as the central venue this year because it is an example of living cultural heritage.
A settlement since the Iron Age, Štanjel saw its heyday in the Romanesque period. It was fortified in the 17th century in defence against Ottoman raids. Heavily damaged during WWII, it has been rebuilt since.
The village is known for its lemon-shaped belfry, castle and the Ferrari Garden, designed by architect Maks Fabiani (1865-1962) in the 1920s.
The village and its surroundings will see 30 events dedicated to cultural and natural heritage, including tours, workshops and presentations.
An initiative of the Council of Europe, the European Heritage Days are coordinated in Slovenia by the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage.
Its director Jernej Hudolin said at the same presentation that the awareness about the importance of cultural heritage and its preservation was increasing, which could be seen in the growing number of events added each year.