Europe Travel Guide

Ajdov?ina is a small town and a municipality with the same name and a population of 7000, located in the Vipava valley (Vipavska dolina), Slovenia.

The style of the town resembles to one of typical Italian, since the Italian border is less than 20 km away. The climate is mediterranean (min temperature in winter -1, max 17 C; in the summer time max temp. 39 C, min 20 C). The town is located 14 km from the Adriatic Sea.

Famous people born in Ajdov?ina
Veno Pilon (1896-1970) – painter,
Danilo Lokar – author,
Anton ?ebej – painter.

Celje (German Cilli, Hungarian Cille) (46.24 North, 15.27 East (WG), 241 m, mean height above sea level (MSL) 304 m) is the third largest city in Slovenia. It is a regional center of the Southwestern Lower Styria (Jugozahodna Spodnja tajerska) and the administrative seat of the municipality of the same name. It is located under the Upper Celje Castle (407 m) at the confluence of the rivers Savinja (also in some older English texts Sann), Lonica and Voglajna (with its tributary Hudinja) in the lowest part of the Savinja valley.

Symbols
The escutcheon of Celje originates from the Counts of Celje.

The coat of arms of Celje has been integrated into the Slovenian national arms in 1991. The same coat-of-arms was selected for the national arms immediately after the 1st World War in 1918, when Slovenia together with Croatia and Serbia formed the old Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

History
The first urban settlement appeared in the halstatt era.

The city was known in the Celtic times as Kelea when Celts used to coin money here and later on in the Roman Empire as Civitas Celeia. Settlement got its municipal rights in 46 under the name municipium Claudia Celeia during the reign of the Roman caesar Claudius (10 BC-54, reigned 41-54). Antique Celeia had to be a wonderful city. Written records allege it was rich and densely populated, secured with the walls and towers, full of multi-storey marble palaces, wide squares and streets. It was called the second or small Troy – Troia secunda. A Roman road through the Celeia led from Aquileia (Oglej) to Pannonia.

Celeia soon became one of the most flourishing Roman colonies, and possessed numerous great buildings, of which the temple of Mars was famous throughout the whole empire. Celeia was incorporated with Aquileia circa 320 under Roman Emperor Constantine I. (272-337).

During the great migrations of the fifth and sixth century, the city was razed. In the early Middle Ages was again renewed. The first mention of Celje in the Middle Ages was under the name of Cylie in Admont’s Chronicle, which was written between the years 1122 and 1137.

Domale is a municipality in Slovenia, near Ljubljana.

Near Domale there is the most powerful transmitter of Slovenia. It works on the medium wave frequency 918 kHz and can be received at nighttimes in whole Europe. It uses as aerial a 161 metre high guyed steel tube mast.

Izola (Italian Isola d’Istria) is a town and a municipality with the same name in Southwestern Slovenia along the coast of Adriatic Sea.

Originally an island on the North Adriatic (hence, the name, which means island), it was first settled by the Romans, who built a port at Haliaetum, on Simons Bay, to the south west of the current city.

During the Middle Ages, it was controlled by the Venetian Republic.

Its economic base was seriously hurt when Trieste (Trst in Slovene) became the premier port in the region and a plague struck in the 16th century.

During the French occupation in the early 19th century, the city walls were torn down and used to fill in the channel that separated the island of Izola from the mainland.

Jesenice is a town and a municipality in Slovenia, on the Slovene side of the Karavanke mountain range, south of Austria. It is known for the biggest Slovenian steel making company and its hockey club.

Places to go in Jesenice are: The Museum of history of steel production in Jesenice, numerous sightseeing places scattered all over the nearby countryside and the Hockey hall. Young people may also find interesting pubs Dozivetje, Domina and Teater.

Jesenice is currently undergoing massive urban reconstruction with the help of EU resources. A new city centre is being built in the former industrial part of town. Two malls have already been built, besides the new city hall.

There are also two high school institutions in Jesenice. The first one is IC (elezarski Izobraevalni Center) – (Iron production Educational Centre), which offers 4-year courses in technical and medicine vocations. The second one is Gimnazija Jesenice (High school Jesenice), with a 60-year tradition.

Kamnik is a town and a municipality in Slovenia. The municipality includes the arboretum Vol?ji potok, a permanent exhibition of flowers and trees under the nearby Kamnik Alps. The town of Kamnik features medieval buildings under the castle on the hill.

You can also see beautiful landscape and some nice kamnik castles and the little center of town in virtual panorams on the link http://www.burger.si/Kamnik/Kamnik.html , which also have following links to virtual panorams of all Slovenia.

Kobarid (Italian Caporetto) is a town and a municipality in the upper So?a (Italian Isonzo) valley, West Slovenia, near Italian border.

Kobarid is known for the famous Battle of Caporetto, where which the Italian Retreat was documented by Ernest Hemingway in his novel, A Farewell to Arms.

The adjacent Tono?ov Grad archaeological site has buildings said to date back to Roman Empire days

Koper (Capodistria in Italian), pop. 25,000, is a coastal municipality and the largest commercial port in Slovenia, on the Adriatic Sea coast. Sights in Koper include 15th century Praetorian Palace in Venetian Gothic style, the 12th century Carmine Rotunda church, and the Cathedral of St Nazarius with its 14th century tower.

History
Koper rose from an ancient settlement built on an island in the southeastern part of the Gulf of Koper in the northern Adriatic. In the time of Ancient Greece, the town was known as Aegida, later it became known by its Latin names Capris, Caprea, Capre or Caprista, from which the modern Slovenian name stems from.

In 568, Roman citizens of nearby Tergestum (modern Trieste) fled to Koper due to an invasion of the Lombards. In honour of the Byzantine emperor Justinian II, Koper was renamed to Justinople. Later, Koper was under both Lombard and Frankish rule.

Trade between Koper and Venice was registered since 932. In the war between Venice and Germany (Holy Roman Empire), Koper was on the German side, and was in result awarded by town rights, granted in 1035 by the emperor Conrad II. Since 1232, Koper belonged to the patriarch in Aquileia, and in 1278 it joined the republic of Venice.

Kranj (German: Krainburg) is the fourth largest city of Slovenia, approx. 20km north west from Ljubljana with a population of 51,225 (2002). The centre of the unofficial Gorenjska (Upper Carniola) region (northwestern Slovenia) is mainly an industrial city with strong electronics industry. It also has preseved medieval old town at the confluence of the Kokra and the Sava rivers.

The city lies at the busy Ljubljana – Jesenice – Villach (Austria) – Munich (Germany) railway and highway. The airport of Ljubljana (in Brnik) is also very close to Kranj.

The former (until 1918) Austrian province Carniola (Kranjska in Slovene language) was named after this city, which was originally its capital, as well as Carnian Alps, now bordering Austria and Italy.

Visiting Kranj
Due to its small size, the beauties of Kranj can be best seen on foot or with a bycicle, with your car parked at your staying place.

Krko is a town and a municipality in Slovenia. Nowadays it is famous for hosting the only Slovenian nuclear power plant.