In August, the Park of Military History Pivka will be open every day from 9.00 a.m. to 18.00 p.m.

Prior reservation is required for a visit to the submarine’s interior and for an experience on the MiG-21/Spitfire flight simulators on +386 (0)31 775 002 or via e-mail [email protected].

As part of the summer program Explore with us!, you can see the museum collections and exhibitions accompanied by a guide. In August, guided visits will be organized every Monday at 11.00 a.m. in the Slovenian language and every Wednesday at 11.00 a.m. in the English language.

On Friday, August 12, and Friday, August 26, at 9.00 a.m., you can also take part in the guided hike to Primož Hill with the tour of the inside of an underground fortification of the Alpine Wall. 

For the guided visits to the Park of Military History and guided tours to Primož Hill, prior reservation is required on +386 (0)31 775 002 or via e-mail [email protected]. Guided tours are organized with a minimum of 5 persons.    

You can learn more about the program Explore with us! at: www.visitpivka.si/raziskujte-z-nami/.

In the Park of Military History, visitors can also find a motorhome with eight parking spaces and the corresponding infrastructure. The price for staying overnight on the motorhome stopover site includes a free entrance for one person to the Park of Military History. 

 

In June a new guest exhibition, “Partisan Hospital Franja – the hidden gem of Europe” was opened in the Park of Military History Pivka. The City Museum of Idrija exhibition by Milojka Magajna is designed as a traveling exhibition that presents the heritage of the Franjo partisan hospital to the general public and raises awareness of the importance of humanity, tolerance, and solidarity in the increasingly tense atmosphere of modern times. Several content sets testify to the tremendous humanitarian role of the former partisan hospital, hidden from the eyes of the enemy in the hard-to-reach gorge in the Cerkljansko region and its symbolic significance for new generations. Based on the testimonies of the hospital staff, wounded, and the locals, the exhibition takes visitors through the everyday life of the hospital, which, in addition to exceptional sacrifice in caring for the wounded, was also marked by a constant concern for concealment. The valuable weight of the exhibition is given by a valuable set of personal belongings of the staff and medical devices.

The Park of Military History Pivka will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in July and August.

PRIOR ANNOUNCEMENT IS REQUIRED to view the interior of the submarine and to test one of our two flight simulators, MiG-21 or Spitfire.

In July, you can also see the museum collections and exhibitions accompanied by a guide, namely guided tours in Slovene every Monday at 11 am and in English every Wednesday at 11 am.

On Friday, July 15, and Friday, July 29, at 9 am, you can also take part in a guided hike to Primož with a tour of the interior of the underground fortress of the Alpine Wall.

More about the program Explore with us! at: www.visitpivka.si/raziskujte-z-nami/.

In the Park of Military History, visitors can also find a motorhome with eight parking spaces and arranged infrastructure.

One of the premieres of the new documentary “Mission Mangart” was shown at the Pivka Cinema on Wednesday, June 8. The screening of the film, which received the prestigious award for the best historical film at the Cannes Film Festival, was prepared by the Park of Military History together with the Embassy of the United States of America and the Public Institute for tourism Pivka.

A historical documentary on the movie screen brings to life the story of the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army, which organized a ski race at the Mangart Saddle in June 1945. On June 3, 1945, less than a month after the war’s end, and in fact, only a few days after the unit arrived in the Upper Soča, the boys, mainly experienced mountaineers and skiers, indulged in a patch of snow under the magical Mangart – they organized a real ski competition. It was not an important historical turning point, but it has an exceptional symbolic value.

The documentary was directed by former American professional skier Chris Anthony, who came across an almost forgotten story of an unexpectedly organized American soldiers’ ski race thanks to retired Slovenian army brigadier Janez Kavar. The preparation and filming of the documentary took six years, with the director combining the archive footage with rich material and numerous interviews.

As the event’s co-organizers, the gathered were addressed by the director of the Park of Military History, Mag. Janko Boštjančič and the director of the Public Institute for tourism Pivka Jana Gržinič, who expressed joy at the fact that Pivka is hosting one of the first screenings of the film and sincerely congratulated the director and the team for a successful film project. After the screening, the film’s director Chris Anthony greeted the audience and sincerely thanked the organizers for their help and hospitality. According to him, Slovenia hides many incredible experiences, and as a tourist destination, he especially praised the Park of Military History, which he visited before the event. At the end of the film evening, the director also presented autographs and signed copies of film posters.

The Park of Military History will be open daily in June, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

PRIOR ANNOUNCEMENT IS REQUIRED to view the interior of the submarine and to test one of our two flight simulators, MiG-21 or Spitfire.

You can make a reservation on 031 775 002 or [email protected].

In cooperation with its partners, the Park of Military History organised a cross-border academic excursion for journalists, tourism workers, and museum and local guides on Monday and Tuesday, 16 and 17 May, with the intention of promoting military tourism and tourism services in an area linked with the heritage of the First World War or the Isonzo Front.

 

The academic excursion was one of the closing activities of the strategic project “WALKofPEACE – The Sustainable Development of First World War Heritage Between the Alps and the Adriatic”, financed as part of the Interreg V-A Italy-Slovenia 2014-2020 Cooperation Programme. The cross-border project that runs between November 2018 and June 2022 and is led by the Soča Valley Development Centre brought together ten Slovenian and Italian project partners from areas with a strong presence of First World War remains with the goal of preserving, promoting and developing First World War heritage between the Alps and the Adriatic. Apart from the Soča Valley Development Centre, project partners on the Slovenian side also included the Park of Military History, the Walk of Peace Foundation in the Soča Valley, the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and the Municipality of Nova Gorica, while project partners on the Italian side included Regione del Veneto, VEGAL – Agenzia di sviluppo del Veneto Orientale, PromoTurismoFVG, ERPAC – Ente Regionale per il Patrimonio Culturale del Friuli Venezia Giulia and Comune di Ragogna.

Participants began the academic excursion at the Park of Military History where the introduction to their two-day trip along the path of military heritage included the Park’s newest permanent exhibition “Fighting Behind the Trenches” which highlights the subject matter of military transport of the Austro-Hungarian Army on the Isonzo Front from setting up new transport systems on roads, cableways and railways to the logistics of transporting military units and enormous amounts of weapons, ammunition and other material. The exhibition opened in April of this year based on the extensive research on transport during the First World War and represents the main part of the activities carried out by the Park of Military History as part of the “WALKofPEACE” project.

The academic tour continued with a stop in the Park of Peace on Mt. Sabotin where the seemingly calm and idyllic natural surroundings are intersected by numerous trenches and caverns from the First World War, serving as a cruel reminder of the suffering of those who had fought and died in them. Day 1 of the programme concluded with the visit to the ossuary above Kobarid, which is the only ossuary of fallen Italian soldiers in Slovenia.

   

The following day, participants first visited the “Štoln” tunnel which connects Log pod Mangartom with the Italian town of Cave del Predil. During the war, the tunnel represented an innovative solution of the Austro-Hungarian Army to supply the battlefield in the Upper Soča Valley during the time when access across the Predil Pass was hindered by Italian shelling. The excursion continued on the Italian side of the border where participants visited the mine where the “Štoln” tunnel terminates and the local museum visitor centre Polo museale di Cave del Predil. As the last stop before returning to the Park of Military History, the programme in Italy concluded with the museum of the First World War on Mt. San Michele – Museo del monte San Michele.

As the academic excursion came to an end, participants were left with positive impressions and agreed that implementing such programmes for visitors would greatly contribute to the preservation of First World War heritage and the promotion of military tourism in the area.