Kluže Fortress

Contact

Trdnjava Kluže

http://www.kluze.net/

trdnjavakluze@gmail.com

Managed byBovec Culture House

A grim but picturesque war fortress Kluže that was built in 1472 near Bovec, on the road between Cave del Predil and Carinthia, North West Slovenia, to defend Friuli against the Turks. In the 16th century it came under Austrian authority as a result of the wars between Venica and the Hapsburgs, however it remained as an ecclesiastical dependence of Ciudad and Aquileia. Later on it was under Austria's administration, and at the end of 18th century Kluže played a role in the fighting with Napoleon's army that pushed through the Koritnica gorge. The fort was destroyed by a fire in 1903, and ravaged during the World War I, when the Italian-Austrian front (Battles of the Isonzo) crossed through the valley.

Kluže Fortress, the seat of the Austro – Hungarian garrision close behind the front line during the Battles of the Isonzo, World War I, Triglav National Park, 2014

Cultural programme

Background

In 1998 the Kluže Ambient Festival started out with a series of international exhibitions called ARTileria Kluže, launched by Damijan Kracina and a group of local artists.

In 2002 the B-51 Cultural Society took over the role of organiser of cultural events at the site and conceived the Ambient Festival as a launch pad for entertainment and the arts in the Upper Soča region. It has been organised annually and in collaboration with Bovec Tourism Organisation and supported by the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Bovec. However, due to financial cuts at the national level, the 2013 festival edition was cancelled.

The organisational concept underlying Kluže Festival was to present events in a series of "weekend packages", in order to enliven the various venues. The festival cooperated with the Central-European Mittelfest, staged just over the border in Cividale del Friuli (Italy), which has also contributed some performances at Kluže, and other regional partners from the neighbouring Friuli (Italy) and Carinthia (Austria). At first the programme thematised the war tragedies and exile-related subjects, thus maintaining a creative historical connection with the Soča-Isonzo region.

The next editions presented theatre performances from Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Israel, usually in two parts, a week in July and another week in August. The opening event of the 2007 edition also involved the creators of the film Chronicles of Narnia, who shot one of the film's scenes in this part of Slovenia.

All events in the festival were free of charge.

See also

• Walk of Peace in the Soča Region Foundation

External links

• Kluže Fortress website (in Slovenian)

Gallery

Kluže Fortress, the seat of the Austro – Hungarian garrision close behind the front line during the Battles of the Isonzo, World War I, Triglav National Park, 2014

Open air theatre at Kluže Fortress, Triglav National Park, 2014

Kluže Fortress, rebuilted in the years from the 1881 to 1882, Triglav National Park, 2014