The legendary Vintgar Gorge was carved and shaped by glaciers. Unexplored and inaccessible until 1891. At that time, there was extremely little precipitation in the winter, so the water level of the Radovna River dropped markedly and after a long time it became possible to enter the wild Vintgar. The first to venture into it were local resident and mayor of Gorje Municipality Jakob Žumer and photographer and cartographer Benedikt Lergetporer. Fascinated by its beauty, they spread word about the Vintgar Gorge to the world, and so began the more than 130-year-old story of one of the world's most beautiful gorges. With the desire to enable passage through the gorge, the locals prepared a plan. The money for the construction was contributed by companies, hoteliers and many locals by organizing dances. The construction of paths, bridges and galleries was extremely challenging due to the precipitous walls and the raging river. But despite this, they managed to build footbridges and protected paths along the river, and it was officially opened on August 28, 1893. The Gorje Tourist Association has been managing the gorge ever since.
In recent years, with the increase in tourism, the gorge has faced an excessive number of visitors. At the height of the season, the number of visitors rose to 6,000 per day. Therefore, the Tourist Association of Gorje, as the responsible manager of the natural landmark of national importance, as the first such manager in the country, prepared a ten-year business and management plan and thereby committed itself to the sustainable management of the gorge. Already in 2019, they established a one-way visit, consciously limiting the number of visitors in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the state also joined in and set the maximum visitor capacity as the first natural landmark of national importance in the country: 2,290 visitors per day, but no more than 245 at the same time in the gorge. This was followed by intensive digitization on the part of the operator, the purchase of online tickets with appointment booking, the moving of parking lots away from the entrance itself, and the organization of transportation from distant parking lots with electric buses to the entrance.
Managers have carefully tackled the challenge of how to preserve the delicate ecosystem of the gorge, where we can find more than 600 plant species, various animals and an interesting geological structure, while still allowing visitors access through this beautiful natural landmark. The log cabin entrance was reconstructed in such a way that it directs visitors' access and separates them according to whether they enter as a group, with a previously purchased online ticket, or whether they have to wait to enter due to the occupancy limit.
In light of all these changes, the log cabin from 1986, located in the area of the Triglav National Park with the third level of protection, was replaced by an entrance building that preserves the original dimensions and traditional qualities and upgrades them with a modern, refined and clear design. Half of the facade membrane is solid, and half is transparent. The entrance for visitors leads through the glazed part, in this part the interior is completely connected with nature, the view opens up to the Radovna river and thus contributes to a magnificent welcome to the Vintgar Gorge.
