The poet is presented in a new way through his works, while a special exhibition also honours other notable figures from the south-eastern region of Bela krajina.

The house built on the ruins of Županičič's birth house which burnt to the ground in 1888, opened its doors after renovation worth EUR 680,000 on Wednesday.

The project was completed by the Črnomelj municipality, Mayor Mojca Čemas Stjepanovič told the STA, adding that almost 60% of the funds came from the EU.

Apart from a complete renovation of the house, which is annually visited by some 2,000 people, the idea was to add content to what is a cultural monument, according to Čemas Stjepanovič.

The idea was to modernise Župančič's memorial collection entitled Župančič - Master of Words, author Marijan Dovič said. "We tried to present Župančič in a new way and reach out to younger visitors," he said.

A children's playground in the house's garden is dedicated to Župančič's most famous figure, a boy named Ciciban, while the exhibition also features a video projection intended for children.

The opening was also attended by Culture Ministry State Secretary Anton Peršak, who said this was a big gain for both the region and the country as a whole.

Župančič's memorial house was opened as a unit of the Bela krajina regional museum in 1951, two years after the poet's death. Its permanent collection was renovated and expanded twice, in 1978 and 1998.

Župančič (1878-1949), a poet, playwright, translator and editor, was born in Vinica but spent most of his life in the near-by village of Dragatuš and Ljubljana, where he died.

He is regarded, alongside Ivan Cankar, Dragotin Kette and Josip Murn, as the pioneer of modernism in the Slovenian literature. In the period following World War I, Župančič was frequently regarded as the greatest Slovenian poet after France Prešeren.