Idrija Attractions & Activities - The Best Holiday Destinations for 2020
Idrija lies among the green hills of western Slovenia in the Julian Alps. It is located between the Alpine and the Karst regions.
As the oldest Slovenian mining city, Idrija grew with the development of the mercury mine. A mining settlement was founded at the end of 15th century and had civic trading rights bestowed in 17th century. In 18th century Idrija as a city was considered one of the most important centers in Slovenia.
Until World War I Idrija stayed the second largest city in the region of Carniola. It was well connected with the most important European provinces and cities (Venice, Amsterdam, Vienna) and was a very interesting destination for scientific and technical elite of the time (Steinberg, Scopoli, Haquet, Lipold). Many of them left their mark on the city. Still today, names of many parts of the city remind us of various technical achievements from the old times: Bašerija - ore preparation, Prejnuta and Pront - ore furnace, Lenštat and Riže - wood storehouse, Gasa - street, etc.
Today Idrija has almost 7000 inhabitants and is in many ways still growing. An ongoing process of modernization can be sensed in the city, which is trying hard to establish industrial and cultural connections with the rest of the World.
The mercury mine today is in the process of closing down. But even with the deviation to more modern industrial fields, the city is trying to preserve its links with 500 years of mining traditions.
A half millennium of mining mercury in Idrija and its surroundings left an exceptionally rich heritage of technical, cultural, and historical monuments and points of interest available to visitors as museum displays.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Idrija
