Kavčnik Homestead

Contact

This logo is missing!

If you have it, please email it to us.

Kavčnikova domačija

Zavodnje 43, Sl-3325 Šoštanj, Slovenia,

http://www.muzej-velenje.si/

info@muzej-velenje.si

Phone386 (0) 3 898 2630

Managed byVelenje Museum

Kavčnik Homestead is a splendid example of Slovene vernacular architecture, with 400 years old smoke house (dimnica). It was in use in the Alpine region and is unique and southernmost surviving example. Kavčnik Homestead is a unique rural architecture that was opened as open air museum in 1992 and was nominated for the Museum of the Year Award in 1993.

Buildings of Dimnica prevailed in northern Slovenia from 11th until the late 18th century when, because of frequent fires, the authorities began to adopt strict measures to ban them. They were subsequently replaced by buildings with a more modern layout and a stone-built open-hearth kitchen.

The oldest part of the homestead is the dimnica (the owners appropriately called it the kuhna or kitchen); the little windows in the dimnica with their unique sliding mechanism, and details of the wooden hinges at the entrance door to the shed, confirm that the core of the building, including the shed, probably dates from the 17th century. The preserved dimnica was at that time the only living quarter in the Kavčnik homestead. Nowadays, the fire is kept burning in the hearth, filling the room with smoke. Red eyes and irritated lungs do not fail to convince the visitor that life may have been much more relaxed in the past, but hardly as romantic as we like to imagine.

External links

[Kavčnik Homestead on Wikipedia in Slovene