Nova Gorica, a city in western Slovenia whose Franciscan monastery holds the remains of the last French king, and the municipality of Saint-Denis, whose basilica served as the burial site for most French monarchs, have signed an agreement to cooperate in tourism and culture.

The Nova Gorica municipality, which will be the European Capital of Culture in 2025 together with its Italian counterpart Gorizia, would like the agreement to encourage the French to visit the town and the Kostanjevica Franciscan Monastery on the hill above it.

The monastery's Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady contains the tomb of the Bourbons, including the last French king, King Charles X, who settled in Gorizia in 1836, having fled after the July Revolution of 1830. He is the only French king buried outside of France.

The sister city partnership was signed at the Saint-Denis Town Hall north of Paris on 8 August as part of events to promote Slovenian culture at the Slovenia House at the Paris Olympics.

"At the proposal of the Culture Ministry, the Franciscan Monastery Kostanjevica near Nova Gorica will soon be declared a monument of national importance. We are currently financing the restoration works," Culture Minister Asta Vrečko said on the occasion.

The agreement underlines the two municipalities' joint commitment to preserving their cultural heritage, with the aim of strengthening cooperation, particularly in culture and tourism.

The programme at the Slovenia House also saw a premiere screening of a short documentary film about the gymnast Leon Štukelj, who won his first Olympic gold medals in the French capital a century ago.

The 17-minute film, entitled From Paris to Paris, chronicles Štukelj's sporting career and his involvement in the Olympic movement.

The documentary, made in cooperation with the Culture Ministry, is the work of Jasna Dokl Osolnik, the head of the Dolenjska Museum, and film director Boštjan Grubar.

It features exclusively archival video and photographic material, which was donated to the museum in 2019 by Štukelj's daughter Lidija Pauko.

Štukelj, who was born in Novo Mesto in 1898 and passed away in Maribor in 1999, won six medals at three Olympic Games - in Paris in 1924, Amsterdam in 1928 and Berlin in 1936.