Aljaž Tower

Template:Infobox building Aljaž Tower (Template:Langx) or the Triglav Tower (Template:Lang) is a tower, a storm shelter and a triangulation point on the summit of Mount Triglav in northwestern Slovenia.<ref name="Cvirn2000" /> Along with Triglav, it is a landmark of Slovenia and a symbol of the Slovenehood. The tower was designed by Jakob Aljaž, a priest in the Upper Carniolan village of Dovje, who also had it erected, in 1895. Today it is owned by the state, tended by the Template:Nowrap and stands on a parcel belonging to the Municipality of Bohinj.<ref name="Gore-ljudje" />

History

In early 1895, hoping to be able to restrain the increased interest of foreigners in the Slovene mountains, Aljaž drew up with a chalk on the floor of his room in the Parish of Dovje plans for a cylindrical tower with a flag on its top.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April that year, he purchased the summit of Triglav for the sum of one florin from the then Municipality of Dovje. Having done so, he secured himself the right to erect a building on his own real property.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The tower was constructed from iron and zinc-coated sheet steel by Anton Belec from Šentvid near Ljubljana. He and four workers brought the parts of the tower to the summit of Triglav and put the tower together in only five hours on 7 August 1895. Its opening ceremony and blessing took place in a small circle on 22 August that year.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Aljaž donated the shelter to the Alpine Association of Slovenia.<ref name="Matica">Template:Cite web</ref> In the beginning, there were three four-legged chairs, a summit register, a spirit stove, and the image The Triglav Panorama by Marko Pernhart in the tower.<ref name="Cvirn2000">Template:Cite book</ref> It was later repainted and renovated several times by Alojz Knafelc and others. In the communist era, as the highest point of the former Yugoslavia, it was painted red and decorated with a red star.<ref name=RTV2013-12>Template:Cite web</ref> However, it has more or less retained its original appearance.<ref name="Gore-ljudje">Template:Cite web</ref> The star was removed shortly before the dissolution of Yugoslavia.<ref name=RTV2013-12 /> On the proclamation of Slovene independence in June 1991, the flag of Slovenia was ceremonially raised at the tower.<ref name="Gore-ljudje"/> On 5 October 1999, the tower and its immediate surroundings were proclaimed a site of national cultural importance for Slovenia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The tower was removed from the summit by helicopter for restoration on September 7, 2018,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and put back on 3 October same year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Gallery

Summit view with the Aljaž Tower
Inside the Aljaž Tower, showing its view orientation map
15-year-old King Peter II of Yugoslavia on top of Mount Triglav on August 12, 1939