Kranj Archaeological Site
History
Excavations were carried out over a period of two decades on the large Old Slavic burial place beside the parish church in Kranj. In the following years an archaeological site was organised north of the church and opened in 1981.
Archaeological excavations in the interior of the church in 1984, and north of it in 1972, revealed a church complex as early as the 7th century, which consisted of a church building with side naves and octagonal baptistery at the north side, connected to the church with a short corridor. The original church was about 12 meters wide and 19 to 23 meters long, including the narthex.
Site
In an underground area the excavated material can be viewed under cover in chronological order, with photographs and illustrations. Also visible are the masonry foundations of a baptistry or memorial together with the semicircular base of the wall of a round ossuary dating from the late 13th century. On view are the remains of a cemetery chapel with a 15th-century tomb that belonged to the Counts Eghk, the owners of Brdo Castle near Kranj, plus a more recent ossuary that contains carefully-stacked layers of skulls and bones of the deceased.