Russian Chapel (Vršičpass)

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Russian band (2008)

The Russian Chapel on the Vršič Pass ( Slovenian Ruska kapelica na Vršiču ) is a Russian Orthodox chapel on the northern side of the Vršič Pass in northwestern Slovenia . The chapel dedicated to Saint Vladimir was built in memory of Russian prisoners of war who were killed by an avalanche during the First World War in connection with the construction of the pass road. The chapel is both a memorial against the war and a symbolic link between Slovenia and Russia.

history

At the beginning of 1915, Kranjska Gora had become an important strategic point for the Isonzo front between Austria-Hungary and Italy. For this reason, the Austro-Hungarian army decided to build a military road between Kranjska Gora and the Soča Valley (Vršič Pass) for faster transport of Austrian units and military equipment. The construction of the pass road started in May 1915 and was completed by the end of the year. A large number of people were killed in an avalanche in March 1916. The exact number can no longer be determined. The figures vary between 110 Russian prisoners and six or seven Austro-Hungarian soldiers and 170 to 300 Russian prisoners and ten to 80 Austro-Hungarian soldiers. In total, the construction of the road claimed more than 7,000 victims. The surviving Russian prisoners built the chapel in 1916 to commemorate their dead comrades. Since 2006, the section of the pass that goes past the Russian Chapel has been called "Russian Road".

  • Prisoners building roads

  • 1916

  • 1928

chapel

The chapel is made of wood and was built on a stone foundation. It has two onion domes in the baroque style. It was originally covered with bark, later with wooden shingles. The interior space is small. The altar is made of cut round wood. There is a burial site next to the chapel. The pyramid-shaped funerary monument bears the inscription The Sons of Russia in Russian .

Commemorations

A memorial ceremony has been held every last Sunday in July since 1992. High-ranking representatives of the Russian state regularly take part. In 2015, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev attended the ceremony. A year later, on July 30, 2016, in the year of the hundredth anniversary, Russian President Vladimir Putin took part.

  • Boris Gryzlov (2011)

  • Dmitry Medvedev (2015)

  • Vladimir Putin (2016)

Web links

Commons : Russian band  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Renata Pamic: Russian Chapel. Retrieved January 21, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Marko Mugerli: Bela Smrt. Retrieved January 21, 2017 (Slovenian).
  3. ↑ a b c Vršič, Ruska kapelica. (No longer available online.) Slovenian Tourist Board, archived from the original on December 22, 2016 ; accessed on January 28, 2017 (German). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / m.slovenia.info
  4. ↑ Obnovili so Rusko kapelico. 24ur.com, November 16, 2005, accessed January 21, 2017 (Slovenian).
  5. ↑ Ruska kapelica. Društvo Slovenija-Rusija, 2015, accessed on January 21, 2017 (Slovenian).
  6. ↑ Blaž Racic: Kapelici per zgodbo napisal smrtonostni plaz. delo.si, March 8, 2016, accessed on January 21, 2017 (Slovenian).

Coordinates: 46 ° 26 ′ 33.3 "  N , 13 ° 46 ′ 3.8"  E