Return to Previous Workshops
AiP returned to Slovenia in September 2008, and once again participants were inspired by the country’s beautiful mountains, forests and vineyards, by the energy and graciousness of its people, and by the wealth of its historic architecture.
Our workshop was designed in cooperation with the municipality of Šmartno ob Paki to encourage preservation of the oldest known vintner’s cottage in Slovenia – the Mlinar’s Cottage. A stone structure with an arched ceiling, it was built around 1540 and expanded several times, with a post and beam addition built in 1840. Incredibly, it still houses the huge press that, until 1970, was used to make both wine and apple cider.A stone structure with interior arched ceiling, it was built around 1540; in 1840 a post and beam addition doubled its size.
Each morning after breakfast at the local café, our group walked 20 minutes to the cottage, located at the end of a steep gravel road at the edge of a narrow valley. The weather was cooler than expected, 
but the walk warmed us up for the work at hand. Participants from Australia, the U.K., the U.S. and Slovenia worked under the guidance of Stephen Booker, a conservation architect. In two weeks' time, AiP's volunteer team fully documented the building with measurements, photographs and drawings. It was apparent from the detailing, which included sgraffitto on exterior walls and carved wooden door elements, that this cottage was at one time quite important to the community. Our hardy volunteers also cleaned debris from the interior, revealing treasures such as an original door with large strap hinges, several interesting old bottles, and original decorative clay tiles from the oven that once warmed the interior. The final task was compiling our findings and recommendations for the conservation and future use of the building into a project report. The report is available to anyone interested.
Evenings were filled with food and socializing as community members graciously invited participants to join them on numerous occasions. We were treated to a dinner of traditional Slovenian food and wine prepared by a local family; spent a rainy evening in the mayor’s cozy vineyard cottage tasting local cheeses, meats, grapes and wine; joined two building conservators at their home for an outdoor grilled dinner of vegetables and meats, of course accompanied by local wines; and even joined in a festival at a nearby castle on a cold evening kept warm by a huge bonfire and polka dancing.
One of our fieldtrips took us to Oplotnica to visit the site of ’s 2006 workshop to help restore the paint scheme of a 17th century manor house chapel. The work has been completed by community members inspired by volunteers, and the results are spectacular. We are hoping the 2008 workshop in Šmartno will bring similar results, but the fate of the Mlinar’s Cottage is uncertain. The government is planning a “high road” to Austria that will cut through one of three valleys; the cottage sits in one of the valleys under consideration and any decision on its future will depend on the route selected. If the site is preserved, the cottage will become a museum presenting the art of wine making, so important to the history of the region.
Join when we return to Slovenia in 2010 and experience hands-on all this beautiful country has to offer.
