Aljaž Tower

Aljaž Tower or the Triglav Tower is a tower, a storm shelter and a triangulation point on the summit of Mount Triglav in northwestern Slovenia. Along with Triglav, it is a landmark of Slovenia and a solemn symbol of the Slovenehood. The tower was designed by Jakob Aljaž, a priest in the Upper Carniolan village of Dovje, who also had it erected. Today it is owned by the state, tended by the and stands on a parcel belonging to the Municipality of Bohinj.HistoryIn the early 1895, hoping to be able to restrain the increased interest of foreigners in the Slovene mountains, Aljaž drew up with a chalk on the floor of his room in the Parish of Dovje plans for a solemn cylindrical tower with a flag on its top. In April that year, he purchased the summit of Triglav for the sum of one Austro-Hungarian gulden from the then Municipality of Dovje. Having done so, he secured himself the right to erect a building on his own real property. The tower was constructed from iron and zinc-coated sheet steel by Anton Belec from Šentvid near Ljubljana. He and four workers brought the parts of the tower to the summit of Triglav and put the tower together in only five hours on 7 August 1895. Its solemn opening and blessing took place in a small circle on 22 August that year.