Workshops & Demonstrations

Vitra are the wood strips skilfully pulled from hazel and willow trees of the nearby forests.  This technique is pivotal to all basketry of the area as Nikolaj Miklič, a master weaver will demonstrate.  Have a go yourself in a basket weaving workshop, and create a small item for yourself. After the workshop there will be an optional visit opportunity to the Ancient Forest for a special experience. 

This craft developed due to the presence of abundant quantities of karst stone in the area.  Using traditional manual tools under the guidance of master stone-mason Jernej Bortolato, we will carve a shallow relief on a tile to better understand the techniques,  skills and challenges of this ancient craft. 

The surrounds of Škofja Loka supplied all of the Yugoslavian empire with steel decades ago.  As with other small businesses, it all became industrialised, and then communism further destroyed private business enterprise.  Jože Krmelj with wife Mateja have claimed back a family heritage to work their own smithy,  renowned for its knives, axes and Damascus steel. 

Join the fun and action amongst the banging, pounding, forging,  tempering,  and heat, of a full-on day-long workshop, as Jože and his assistants guide and assist you through the making of a high quality knife.   

Lunch will be provided with sausages cooked in the forge, and by the end of the workshop you’ll be slicing the salami paper thin with your very own knife. 

Note: If this sounds a bit hectic for you, fear not! With a staff ratio of 1:2 there will be all the assistance you could ever want or need. We are assured of leaving with a very unique knife, and a great insight into what goes into blacksmithing!

The wearing of fleece in some form is considered to be the oldest form of dress material.  Perhaps it was wrapping fleece around the feet for a long journey, and discovering that friction developed a robust material.

Skofja Loka at one time housed a huge hat-making factory that produced felted hats for the army, for air-hostess around Europe, and the big black hats for the Hasidic Jewry.  As industrialism and communism swallowed up small business enterprises, so now the reverse is happening as a few of these small businesses have begun emerging again.  We will engage in a felting workshop with professional creator, Anja Musek,  to more fully understand this ancient process while producing a small ‘keep-sake’ item. 

St Clare nuns from Škofja Loka convent baked sweet honey bread in specially carved moulds for visiting high-ranking clerics and townspeople of the 1700s.  As young girls from the town attended the nunnery to learn how to cook, honey bread eventually spread to the general community.  Today, the tradition has almost died out, and only one craftswoman in the region still carves the moulds.  In our workshop we will have the privilege of spending time with Petra Plestenjak-Podlogar, initially in a cooking lesson, crafting our own honey bread, and then through a demonstration of mould carving. 

Owning a salt pan is a bit like owning a garden allotment.  Through a tour of the Piran salt pans discover this 800 year old crafting of the land and sea to produce high quality salt.  Witness the year-round ongoing maintainable and cultivation necessary to ensure the ‘pan’ is in its ultimate condition. 

Wood barrelling, or the craft of the cooper, is a particular skill of Franc Jaklic. 

In a visit to his backyard workshop we’ll be privileged to a demonstration of his techniques as he creates finely crafted items. 

Felt-maker Matjaz Resek developed a plethora of skills in the huge industrial Škofja Loka hat factory until its collapse.  Today he has reclaimed the pre-industrial cottage industry of hand-made hats.  Providing a fascinating insight into historical aspects of the factory, its products, methods and equipment,  Matjaz has rare treasures to show and share. 

In a rare opportunity, a most extraordinary violin maker, Daniel Musek talks us through some of the particular aspects of research and craftsmanship that go into violin-making.  Daniel crafts violins only for the soloists of the world.  His violins are unique and internationally sought after.  What makes one violin superior from another?  What research is undertaken to produce the best sound possible?  

Guided tour of Ljubljana 

Ancient forest experience (optional) 

Guided exploration of UNESCO listed Skocjan Caves, acknowledged as being a significant natural  treasure of Earth, and also entered on the List of Ramsar wetlands of international importance.   

Planing wine tour (optional) 

Guided tour of Škofja Loka 

Škofja Loka castle visit 

Outing to Bled area and lake 

Selected scenic walks of varying length, depending on the weather.  The longest is a half-day walk.