Franciscan Archives and Library, Novo mesto
Background
In 1469 a group of Franciscans fleeing the Turks in Bosnia arrived in Novo Mesto via Metlika, Bela Krajina, and in 1472 they built a monastery here. There was a fire in a monastery in 1664. From 1746 to 1870 the monks ran a grammar school (which proved to be important educational platform for some eminent Slovenes) and from 1878 to 1919 an elementary school.
Mission
It contains some 12,000 books, including numerous precious incunabula, manuscripts and archival records. The monastery also owns a number of oil paintings by Slovene baroque painter Valentin Metzinger, painted in 1726.