Look up to the skies anywhere in Green Slovenia and you will usually see a church, a mountain or both.. There are churches of ALL shapes, sizes, colour and condition ALL over the most beautiful small country in Europe..

So you should not be surprised to learn that ONLY the beautiful little island of Jamaica has more churches per SQ KM in the world than Slovenia!

Indeed, one of the best ways to navigate your way around Green Slovenia, particularly when hiking or biking, is by church.. Cos they are so easy to spot!

Every village has at least one and considering the religion here is pretty much the same, you will be surprised by the varied design and different types & ages of these distinctive buildings!

Little church at the end of the Tamar valley hike..

They are a steady reassuring feature of the Green Slovenian countryside and together with the mountains, dominate the skies above those pretty little Slovenian old towns you might have dreamt about too.

Everywhere you go, just look up and you will see a little church on top of a hill or a steeple peeping out from the trees on the side of a forested mountain, usually overlooking the village it serves.

And the Elephant in the room might be your question.. Why a country that was trapped behind the iron curtain can still have so many churches?

There are several stunning churches to admire if you do the short walk arounfd the Vipava Valley hilltop village of Kriz..

If you think about it, pretty much EVERY church here was built well before the 50 years or so after WW2 of totalitarianism, which, according to locals was quite soft anyway, so churches were not burned down or destroyed!!

There are lots and lots of castles here too in the centre of Europe and these numerous churches add to that chocolate box Medieval feel you will get pretty much as soon as you arrive! 

As you arrive back in Landol from the hike to Predjama castle, cross your fingers for a sunset behind the village church and Nanos..

Here are a few things you might not know about Green Slovenia's Unique Churches..

Defence and Safety..

A lot of castles and churches were built or strengthened in the middle ages when the Turkish raiders were causing chaos all over middle Europe..

Churches performed another crucial role back then, due to their high up strategic positions and became places of refuge & defence from the invading armies.. 

This was a really dangerous time to live in central Europe as the Ottoman empire troops attacked very quickly with no warning, took young men away for their armies or killed everyone and burnt eveything else that got in their way..

one of the most secret Fortress Churches in Slovenia is Tabor, perfectly protected by a castle..

So you needed to get to a place of safety quickly..

Churches became places to hide and shelter from these attacks, some even had castles built around them.. others had high church bell towers for safety and to light fires high up to warn the next village.. once inside the defensive walls or high tower, the villagers would usually be safe. 

We think these very special churches with castles built around them are something quite unique, so we did a whole section on these Fortress Churches to help you find them and not miss out on seeing one!

This majestic tower still protects Dolenje Vas church and we only found this amazing place when E Biking through..

Towers..

Also look out for those tall church towers, often built next to, but separate from the church building.. There are quite a lot of them here, all over the place!

Some still have the arrow slits high up and look carefully for where the modern door is now at ground level, but remember many church towers were built with NO DOOR.. the locals legged it here in times of danger with a long ladder that they used to climb halfway up the tower, climb in and then pull the ladder up to safety!

Just look around and you will see ALL of this incredible history as you do your Green Slovenian adventures!

We say it a lot on this website, cos it is true and maybe local people might not realise or forget to tell you, but the amazing history is so thick here it is ALL around you and you could cut it with a knife!

Frescoes..

Most visitors to Green Slovenia still arrive with no idea how amazing the Dance of Death Frescos are at the unpronounceabubble Hrastovlje Fortress church.. but we will tell you more about that Fortress Church below..

But there is more than one church here with amazing frescoes painted inside and we totally encourage you to go inside little churches if possible and you might be surprised by the secrets you will find..

Generally there is no correlation between the size of the church and the secret wonders inside, many have frescoes, paintings or other treasures that tell intriguing stories and you just wouldn't know unless you ventured inside.. 

Would you ever guess what a fantastic set of frescoes are hidden inside this church from the outside.. luckily the Nazis didn't..

Different Regions, Different Churches..

Another BIG thing to notice and appreciate here is the massive difference between churches in the different regions in a tiny country that is nevertheless packed with completely different looking mini regions, reminding you of every other corner of Europe!

Tall steepled churches built with big white blocks of stone are a feature of the Red Karst for example..

At each of the five or so seaside towns on the coast you will be reminded that this part of Green Slovenia was once part of the Venetian empire and marvel at the pretty Venetian churches popping up from the red terracotta roofs..

Typical church tower in the Mediterranean Coastal Hinterland in the same village as a wine fountain..

There is a middle region near an area we call Horseville, but locally, wait for it, Slovenvice Konjice or something like that, with a stunning secret Fortress Monastery called Zice and the all churches around there have fantastic slate roofs..

You will hardly see one church the same anywhere here, which is remarkable considering how many there are, but when you are exploring the mini regions, try to notice how each church is built in a similar way, maybe due to local materials, history or fashion!

But it will be a difficult to beat the sight of those little chapels perched on top of Green hill tops anywhere in the world..

quite a modern church here, 1,500m on top of Rogla mountain..

So there are just SO MANY churches around here for you to enjoy that now we will just be able to mention a few unmissabubble ones you simply have to go see so as not to overwhelm you!

But we have also included a lot of photos on this page with short descriptions to showcase just a few more.

Our overwhelming advice, whether you are religous or not is to go inside the churches here if you can and hike up to as many as possible too, cos the views will be the best you can get in Green Slovenia.. and that is saying something!

Hrastovlje church, protected inside a castle..

Hrastovlje Church.. (Oak tree village).. (35 mins)..

Perhaps the best example of a "defended" church is at Hrastovlje, where the church is encircled by a well preserved defensive fortress wall and looks more like a castle than a religious building.

And there is an extra big bonus to visiting this church.. cos the 500 year old fresco of "the Dance of Death" is a "must see" part of your holiday in Green Slovenia. The other 3 internal walls are also painted with medieval versions of the old and new Testaments and so also really worth seeing.

the uberincredible Dance of Death fresco inside Hrastovlje church, just over 30 mins from the Lodge..

It is fair to say this is one of the biggest surprises our guests are shocked by how amazing it actually is when we recommend they visit either on the way to or back from the coast..

There is just nothing like it anywhere else!

But would we still be able to see this treasure if the church had not been protected by the big walls and towers around it?

Javorca Church.. (Little Maple).. (75 mins)..

For a very special Alpine vista, take the adventurous road and path to a church perched off the side of a mountain.. the amazing Javorca church, You really have to see this place with your own eyes and get here with your own sweat to appreciate the stunning location.. no photo can really do it justice.     

The church was built by Austro-Hungarian troops following the terrible battles of WW1 in this Soca region to commemorate their fallen comrades and inside there are numerous names carved into the wood.

The interior of the church is beautiful and there are stained glass windows. The soldiers also painted ALL the coats of arms, (badges) for the many Austro-Hungarian provinces onto the exterior of the church.

it really is just the church and the mountains at Javorca..

The church is really something to see and sits high above stunning Tolmin Gorge so try to have an amazing day out combining both and get two truly special secret places to visit for the price of one!

To get here from Tolmin turn left at the sign for Javorca in the little village of Zatolmin onto the start of the forest road and then follow a snaking one lane stone road, high up over the river and scratched into the side of the mountain for a few kms.. rest assured, it feels much longer!

Alternatively you could hike this forest road or cycle it, but whichever way you get here, just get here and from the grass car park it is a 15 min hike up a steep tarmac track to the church in surely one of the most peacefull locations for a church in Europe.

Breaking News for getting to Javorca church..

There is a fab new car park just on the edge of Tolmin on the right hand side as you leave the little town on the way to the gorge..

You can walk to the gorge 1km from here OR take a free shuttle bus, but ALSO in the summer the road is so narrow to Javorca church that the only vehicles allowed up there are these free busses, so you could take a free bus all the way!

the three Churches.. Metlika.. (100mins)..

Just outside the pretty town of Metlika in the south east of Slovenia there is the very rare site of the mysterious "Three Churches", where 3 separate churches are located inside the same walled compound.. right next to each other and completely different!.. maybe this was for defence, but maybe not, when you see the current height of the wall?!

You absolutely MUST ring the church bell at Lake Bled and you can make a wish.. it might well be for an escalator as you will have just trudged up 99 steps to get there!

the 3 Brothers' Churches of Nanos..

The mountain behind Lipizzaner Lodge is Nanos, (1,313m) and there are 3 seperate Brother's Churches on this huge rock plateau, but you cannot see any of the two others from each church!

Legend has it that there were 3 sons who were always arguing and so their dad ordered them to build these churches and sit outside them so they didn't have to look at each other any more!

You might not believe the legend, but you can still hike to each of the three churches over a couple of days!

a beautiful Green Karst church sits above the Planina Disappearing lake..

Look out for some other Pretty Churches on you travels..

When you visit Ljubljana (30 mins) then don't forget to poke your nose inside the big pink church building in the centre by the three bridges.. it is very beautiful inside indeed..

One of our favourite looking churches in Slovenia is the "Norwegian-like" wooden church, perched up on top of the 1,666m Velika Planina (Big Meadow Mountain) (70 mins to cable car).. the church matches the rest of the little village made of wooden little hobbit huts up here and it all looks just idyllic when a cloud floats by on a blue sky! We call this flat mountain top "Heaven on Earth".

Scandinavian look and feel to the Velika Planina church perched on top of a 1,666m high mountain..

In Smarje (St Mary's) Church, just outside Grosuplje, you can learn all about the miracle that took place there during WW2 and then go visit the big castle tower opposite where there is the most fantastic collection of religious memorabilia and paintings on floor after floor.

If you go on an epic 60km E Bike ride from Lipizzaner Lodge over Nanos mountain to the Vipava Valley on the other side, there is a secret little track to bike down and half way down there is a most unique looking Spaghetti western style looking church below! 

We have no idea how the parishioners manage to hike up there for a Sunday service, but we were very happy to stop off for a moment and enjoy the magnificent view!

either a magnificent chess piece or a steeple shaped like a lemon in Stanjel, capital of the Teran wine region..

One of the most distinctive, strange looking or beautiful church steeples in Slovenia, depending on your opinion, towers above the pretty hill top village of Stanjel.. probably our best description of the spire would be a large lemon!

A pretty little church has also been added to the exhibits on a river island garden park called Mozirski Gaj.. There is a working water wheel, a huge viewing tower, a great restaurant and lots of different examples of Slovenian style gardens here in a place we describe as Slovenia's Chelsea Flower Show!

One of those other secret churches we mentioned hiding very special frescos is in a small village called Slivlje, (Plum Village), very close to Devil's Barbeque cave, (Dimnice) where you need to look very carefully at the magnificent paintingst on the ceilings during WW2.. they are beautiful..

we found this idyllic church on the mountain road to Velika Planina and had to stop for a sandwwich..

But look closer and you will see some incredible symbolism and defiance in the colours used, with the Italian fascist colours being depicted as evil against good..

Look even closer and you will clearly see the faces of Mussolini and Hitler hidden in the artwork.. an act that would have got the painter executed by the occupying forces, but instead was rewarded by payment of a cow, (a top of the range BMW in today's terms), by the equally brave and defiant villagers!

Inside Plum village church in the Brkini with hidden WW2 messages of diefiance painted into these frescos..

Wow, what about that!

So you see, you never know what to expect when you go inside a church in Slovenia, so we recommned you do! Sometimes you will need to knock on a few doors to find out which villager has the key, but there have been few churches we went inside here that didn't have some sort of surprising or impressive feature!

Komen church in the heart of the mediterranean Kras region..

Back Home at the Lodge..

There are at least a dozen completely different churches you could see on a loop hiking or biking from the Lodge and Fara church with it's wiggly red steeple sits majestically in the middle on top of a hill, so is absolutely perfect for navigation!

We are very fond of the numerous Green Karst churches in our own locality and we cannot empthasize enough how amazing it is to bike, hike and E Bike around here to see them and enjoy the views!

Local Green Karst church in the village where our guests go to eat the best pizza in the mini region..

Finally, we will let you into a little secret.. our favourite church of all is the one you can see directly from the Lodge back garden, nestled neatly under mt Nanos and as pretty as a picture.. 

St Georges (Sv Juraj) was actually built as a second church for neighbouring St Michael village to bury the dead from a cholera epidemic! It needed to be well away from everybody and everything for safety, but this has created an absolute looker in a stunningly secluded location..

It is almost impossible to admire any views of Slovenia's last mountain before the coast without having this little church tucked below..

an early morning horse ride in view of St George's church under Nanos mountain..

We have deliberatley kept the vista line clear all the way down our courtyard, garden path and fields, so guests can see this view.. we planted all our trees away from this line too, so there is a perfect geometric sight line straight to this beautiful church!

There are so many beautiful churches in Green Slovenia, that we could not mention them all here and we have not seen them all either, of course!

But we hope this little section will help highlight the variety, function and beauty of these churches and help you notice and understand how very special this pocket rocket of a tiny country really is!