Spring has arrived in the Slovenian hills and Slovenia's first flowers have returned
Spring in Slovenia starts gently. Weeks before the mountain passes clear and the tourist coaches roll in, something remarkable happens in the hillsides and meadows. Tens of thousands of crocuses and other spring flowers push up through still, cold grass, carpeting the hillsides in soft violet and mauve almost overnight. They don’t announce themselves. You simply round a bend, and there they are.
These photographs here were taken just days ago at Gorenji Vrsnik — a quiet hamlet — where the little church of Saint Thomas – not to be confused with its more famous namesake near Praprotno – presides over a lovely hilltop meadow. A winding gravel path draws the eye up through the blooms to the bell tower and the bare-limbed trees beside it, the whole scene bathed in the clean, low light of early spring. It’s the kind of place that stops you mid-stride.
“Spring in Slovenia isn’t a single moment — it’s a sequence of small revelations, each one more beautiful than the last.”
Two more churches in the Skofja Loka Hills
The churches of Saint Volbenk and Saint Primus are just two of many churches that dot the green hillsides around Skofja Loka. On my way to the view above, I stopped by these locations to see how they were coming along for spring.
Volbenk Church
The Church of Saint Volbenk is a charming rural church perched above the Poljanska Sora River in the Poljanska dolina (Poljane Valley), not far from the historic town of Škofja Loka in Upper Carniola, Slovenia.
There had not been a single bit of mist all morning, and none either on my drive from Ljubljana. But when I arrived at this location, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Mist surrounding this church and hill only, nowhere else. I dashed up the hill and managed to grab a few shots before it dissipated.
Saint Primus on Gabrska Gora
I drove up from Saint Volbenk Church to Gabrska Gora, and the woodland path leading up to the Church of Saint Primus was still deep in the colours of late winter — fallen leaves carpeting the ground, the surrounding trees bare and skeletal against a cold blue sky. And yet, even in that stripped-back state, the scene was quietly beautiful. The little whitewashed church appeared through the frame of the trees on its perfect green hilltop ahead.
In a few weeks, when those same trees are in full spring bloom and the forest floor is alive with new growth, this will be one of the most magical woodland scenes in the whole of Slovenia. I will be returning here when that happens.
Snowcapped Mountains in Spring
One of spring’s great surprises in Slovenia is looking up. While the valley meadows are full of crocuses and the first tentative greens, the mountains behind them are still deep in winter.
The Kamnik Alps, Karavanke and Julian Alps can hold their snow well into April and May, and even though it may rain in the low grounds, it is snowing in the mountains. Therefore, after a period of rain, it clears to reveal scenes like this one I captured a few weeks back.
This is one of many fabulous views in Slovenia, consisting of the old castle above Smlednik with Mt. Storžič of the Kamnik Alps behind, taken from a certain viewpoint not many know of, but one I can take you to on my workshops.
Slovenia in Bloom
After the crocuses come the blossoming orchards around Lake Bled, and other fabulous locations like the Church of Saint Thomas near Praprotno. This is followed by the first fresh greens reflected in the still waters of other lakes such as Bohinj, Jasna & Preddvor.
April and May here are endlessly generous to photographers — the light is soft, the crowds are absent, and everywhere you turn there is a picture waiting to be made.
Equipment used in my photoshoots
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