The village of Slapnik in the Goriška brda

Abstract

The article at hand sheds light on the principle of the spatial setting of the Slapnik settlement, the architecture and building typology of the village, the interplay of the lifestyle of its inhabitants with nature, and the work of master craftsmen who employed their skills and practices in building the settlement with the use of local materials.

Slapnik is a settlement in the Zgornja Brda which, due to its setting, fits well into the cultural landscape. A unique settlement in the Goriška brda region due to its urban concept and architecture, it was proclaimed the cultural monument of local significance. The oldest known information indirectly relating to Slapnik dates to the fifteenth or, rather, sixteenth century. The village experienced its greatest demographic growth at the turn of the twentieth century, when it counted about twenty building plots in the settlement itself and twenty-six land plots in its surroundings. Constructed strictly from stone, most buildings had more than one storey and they were accessible via interior or exterior staircases. Apart from the residential building, the typical homestead also comprised a wine cellar, a stable with a barn/a haybarn, a pigsty, a storage room for crops and meat products, a henhouse, and a woodshed. Most stables with haybarns, cellars, storage rooms, and woodsheds were freestanding buildings. Large agricultural surfaces were represented by vineyards and forests, followed by hay and grazing meadows. There were some fields and vegetable gardens. Courtyards only formed part of major homesteads.

Given its recognized cultural importance, we conclude that the houses with emphasized stone architectural elements were constructed deliberately. They are exposed to the sun and protected from unfavourable weather conditions, especially gale. Other important preserved buildings in the village are spahnjenci (outdoor kitchens) and wine cellars reflecting the characteristic local lifestyle at that time.

Today, the village is left abandoned, and the buildings are falling to ruin. Slapnik witnessed the greatest emigration after the Second World War, on the demarcation of the state border between Italy and Yugoslavia causing farmers to lose their crops market. Life in Slapnik became hard and the road network to connect the village with its Slovenian hinterland was never built. The last inhabitants left the village after the Friuli earthquake in 1976 and in the early 1980s.

Slapnik has recently come into the limelight at the announcement that the village would be the site of filming a reality show.