Navje
Encyclopedia
Memorial Park
Memorial Park may refer to:In the United States:* Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California* Memorial Park * Memorial Park, Houston, Texas* Memorial Park , Nebraska...
in Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, the capital of Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. It is located in the Bežigrad
Bežigrad
The Bežigrad District or simply Bežigrad is a city district in the northern part of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It encompasses the area between the southern rail line to the south, the Upper Carniola rail line to the west, the highway loop to the north, and Šmartno Street and the Žale...
district, just behind the Ljubljana railway station
Ljubljana railway station
The Ljubljana Railway Station is the principal railway station in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It was built in 1849, when the South railway, connecting Vienna and Trieste, reached Ljubljana. The building was renovated in 1980 by the architect Marko Mušič.James Joyce spent a night at the...
.
Between the early 18th century and the 1930s, the wider area was used as the central cemetery of Ljubljana. In 1936, a new cemetery was established, known as Žale
Žale
Žale Central cemetery , often abbreviated to Žale, is the largest and the central cemetery in Ljubljana. It is located in the Bežigrad district and operated by the Žale Public Company.- History :...
, and most of the graves were moved there. A small portion of the old cemetery was transformed in a "pantheon"
Pantheon (gods)
A pantheon is a set of all the gods of a particular polytheistic religion or mythology.Max Weber's 1922 opus, Economy and Society discusses the link between a...
of famous Slovenes. The memorial park was designed by the architects Jože Plečnik
Jože Plecnik
Jože Plečnik , was a Slovene architect who practised in Vienna, Belgrade, Prague and Ljubljana.-Biography:...
and Ivo Spinčič. Already in 1932, Plečnik had proposed building a monumantal church on the same site, which would include a crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
with tombs of famous Slovenes. The project, planned together with his student Edvard Ravnikar
Edvard Ravnikar
Edvard Ravnikar was a Slovenian architect.He was a professor at the Ljubljana School of Architecture, who made the most decisive contribution to the promotion of Scandinavian architectural style in Slovenia, particularly Finnish achievements in architecture accomplished by those such as Alvar...
, was however rejected, and so Plečnik proposed the creation of Navje.
Between 1936 and 1940 several graves and tombstones of notable personalities were moved into the park, but because of the Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
invasion of Yugoslavia
Invasion of Yugoslavia
The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...
in April 1941 the project was never completed. Many of the tombs planned to be moved into Navje, such as Prešeren
France Prešeren
France Prešeren was a Slovene Romantic poet. He is considered the Slovene national poet. Although he was not a particularly prolific author, he inspired virtually all Slovene literature thereafter....
's, Trubar
Primož Trubar
Primož Trubar or Primož Truber was a Slovene Protestant reformer, the founder and the first superintendent of the Protestant Church of the Slovene Lands, a consolidator of the Slovene language and the author of the first Slovene-language printed book...
's, Maister
Rudolf Maister
Rudolf Maister was a Slovene military officer, poet and political activist. The soldiers who fought under Maister's command in northern Slovenia became known as "Maister's fighters"...
's and Rusjan
Edvard Rusjan
Edvard Rusjan was a Slovene flight pioneer and airplane constructor. He died in an airplane crash in Belgrade.- Biography :Rusjan was born in Trieste, then the major port of Austria-Hungary...
's, were not brought in, while many tombs of unimportant individuals, planned to be moved to Žale
Žale
Žale Central cemetery , often abbreviated to Žale, is the largest and the central cemetery in Ljubljana. It is located in the Bežigrad district and operated by the Žale Public Company.- History :...
, have remained in the park. Plečnik's plans to enlarge the park were never carried out. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the park was largely neglected and renovation took place only in the 1990s, although work is still going on in the surroundings.
Famous tombs
Notable people buried in Navje include:- Anton Tomaž LinhartAnton Tomaž LinhartAnton Tomaž Linhart was a Slovene playwright and historian, best known as the author of the first comedy in Slovene, Županova Micka...
(1756-1795), Playwright and historian - Valentin VodnikValentin VodnikValentin Vodnik was a Slovene priest, journalist and poet from the late Enlightenment period.-Life and work:He was born in Šiška, now a suburb of Ljubljana, then part of the Habsburg Monarchy...
(1758-1819), Poet and editor - Janez Nepomuk Hradecky (1875-1846), Mayor of Ljubljana (1820-1846)
- Jernej KopitarJernej KopitarJernej Bartol Kopitar was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna...
(1780-1844), Philologist - Josef ResselJosef ResselJoseph Ludwig Franz Ressel was a Czech-Austrian forest warden who designed a ship's propeller.Ressel was born in the Austrian monarchy in Chrudim, Bohemia. His father was a German native speaker, while his mother's mothertongue was Czech...
(1793-1857), BohemiaBohemiaBohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
n engineer and inventor of the naval propellerPropellerA propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's... - Gašpar Mašek (1794-1873), Slovene-CzechCzech peopleCzechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
composer - Josef Blasnik (1800-1872), Editor
- Matija ČopMatija CopMatija Čop , also known in German as Matthias Tschop, was a Slovene linguist, literary historian and critic.- Biography :...
(1797-1835), Philologist and the closest friend and collaborator of the poet France PrešerenFrance PrešerenFrance Prešeren was a Slovene Romantic poet. He is considered the Slovene national poet. Although he was not a particularly prolific author, he inspired virtually all Slovene literature thereafter.... - Janez BleiweisJanez BleiweisJanez Bleiweis was a Slovene conservative politician, journalist and public figure. He was the leader of the so-called Old Slovene political movement. Already during his lifetime, he was called father of the nation....
(1808-1881), Politician, known as "The Father of the Nation" - Emil KorytkoEmil KorytkoEmil Korytko was a Polish ethnographer, philologist and translator.Born in the village of Żeważa near Zaleszczyki in Austrian Galicia , he studied philosophy and philology at the University of Lwow, where he became acquainted with the Slovene philologist Matija Čop who taught at the University.He...
(1813-1839), Polish ethnologist and political activist - Luka Jeran (1818-1898), Roman Catholic priest and missionary, founder of the Salesians of Don BoscoSalesians of Don BoscoThe Salesians of Don Bosco is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in the late nineteenth century by Saint John Bosco in an attempt, through works of charity, to care for the young and poor children of the industrial revolution...
in the Slovenia - Jurij Flajšman (1818-1874), Composer
- Karel DežmanKarel DežmanKarel Dežman, also known as Dragotin Dežman and Karl Deschmann was a Carniolan liberal politician and natural scientist. He was one of the most prominent personalities of the political, cultural, and scientific developments in the 19th century Duchy of Carniola...
(1821-1889), Historian and politician - Anton Nedvĕd (1829-1896), Slovene-Czech composer
- Fran LevstikFran LevstikFran Levstik was a Slovene writer, political activist, playwright and critic. he was one of the most prominent exponents of the Young Slovene political movement.-Life and work:...
(1831-1887), Writer and political activist - Josip StritarJosip StritarJosip Stritar was a Slovene writer, poet, playwright, publisher and translator.Stritar spent his early childhood in his home village in rural Lower Carniola and was sent to school in Ljubljana...
(1836-1923), Poet and literary critic - Josip JurčičJosip JurcicJosip Jurčič was a Slovene writer and journalist. He was born in Muljava, Austrian Empire and died in Ljubljana, Austria-Hungary...
(1844-1881), Novelist and editor - Simon RutarSimon RutarSimon Rutar , was a Slovene historian and geographer. He wrote primarily on the history and geography of the areas that are now part of the Slovenian Littoral, the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the Croatian counties of Istria and Primorsko-Goranska.- Biography :Rutar was born in a...
(1851-1903), Historian - Fran Maselj Podlimbarski (1851-1917), Author and officer of the Austro-Hungarian ArmyAustro-Hungarian ArmyThe Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
- Anton AškercAnton AškercAnton Aškerc was a Slovene poet and Roman Catholic priest, best known for his epic poems.Aškerc was born into a peasant family near the town of Rimske Toplice in the Duchy of Styria, then part of the Austrian Empire . His exact birthplace is unknown because his family was on the move at the time...
(1856-1912), Poet - Edo Šlajmer (1864-1935), Physician, founder of modern surgerySurgerySurgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
in Slovenia - Ivan GroharIvan GroharIvan Grohar was a Slovene Impressionist painter. Together with Rihard Jakopič, Matej Sternen and Matija Jama, he is considered one of the leading figures of Slovene impressionism in the fin de siecle period.- Life :...
(1867-1911), Painter - Anton KorošecAnton KorošecAnton Korošec was a Slovenian political leader, a prominent member of the conservative People's Party, a priest and a noted orator....
(1872-1940), Politician