Javorca, memorial Church of the Holy Spirit

High above the stream of the Tolminka rises a wooden shrine – the Memorial Church of the Holy Spirit in Javorca, dedicated to fallenAustro-Hungarian defenders of the Tolmin battlefield on the Soča(Isonzo) Front (1915–1917). / As the finest monument to the First World War in the territory ofSlovenia, in 2007 the church was classed as a historical monumentbearing the European Cultural Heritage sign. / It is also one of the stations along the historical Path of Peace trail, which links together monuments and remains from the First World War in the upper Soča region. / Overthe entrance door the inscription reads: / This monument was built duringthe war by members of the 3rd Mountain Brigade, a battle unit of the15th Corps, in honour and memory of their comrades who fell here. Builtin the period from 1 March to 1 November 1916. / The building wasdesigned by the Vienna painter and stage set designer Remigius Geyling(1878–1974), then a first lieutenant, while the organisation andmanagement of the construction was headed by the Hungarian-bornLieutenant Géza Jablonszky. / It was built by Austro-Hungarian soldierswho were skilled in various trades; the walls and lower section are ofstone, while the upper part of the construction is of larch. / Theviewing terrace by the church reveals a vista of the magnificent RdečiRob (Red Margin), the enchanting chain of the Tolmin-Bohinj mountains,and also takes in the rolling gentleness of the surrounding hills. / Above the entrance rises the bell tower with a sundial, the imperial crest and the inscription PAX (peace). The exterior is also adorned with the crests of the 20 provinces that made up Austria-Hungary. / In the interior, scorched into oak panels symbolising the pages of a memorial book, in the system of the military hierarchy are the 2564 names of Austro- Hungarian soldiers who fell in surrounding battlefields and are buried at Loče near Tolmin. / More information you can find: www.dolina-soce.com