Does Slovenia belong to the Balkan

[Varda]

[QUOTE=rothaer;7556509]

Slovenians even carry Yodeling singing as Austrians, Bavarians and Swiss people.
(...)

Yeah, but that's another topic that I did not comment. As for the mentioned settlement topic that there are - uniquely in the Alps! - no people settling at the hills, here's a pic from Krajnska Gora (Slovenia):



And here from Großes Walsertal (FRG)



and from Vintschgau, South Tyrol ("Italy"):

I don't know what is the highest inhabited place in Slovenia and its elevation, but i am pretty sure most of Balkan countries have higher inhabited places than Slovenia. The highest inhabited place in Montenegro for example is Mala Crna Gora (1800 m), in Bulgaria Manastir (1600 m), in Serbia Doganica (1600 m), in BiH Lukomir (1500 m) etc. I am sure in Slovenia there is no inhabited place over 1500 m, maybe even over 1000 m.

By average elevation most of the Balkan counties are higher than Slovenia. Regardless on Alps which occupy a smaller part of country as whole Slovenia is not so mountain country as some others in Europe.

[Alenka]

Slovenia is clearly the southeast slopes of the Alps.

But Slovenes are the only population in the Alps that does not populate the hills themselves. Maybe their high Slavic proportion prevents them from such an effort, lol.

Yeah, but that's another topic that I did not comment. As for the mentioned settlement topic that there are - uniquely in the Alps! - no people settling at the hills, here's a pic from Krajnska Gora (Slovenia):

Spoiler!

And here from Großes Walsertal (FRG)

Spoiler!

and from Vintschgau, South Tyrol ("Italy"):

Spoiler!

Hmm. Interesting observation.

[Alenka]

I don't know what is the highest inhabited place in Slovenia and its elevation, but i am pretty sure most of Balkan countries have higher inhabited places than Slovenia. The highest inhabited place in Montenegro for example is Mala Crna Gora (1800 m), in Bulgaria Manastir (1600 m), in Serbia Doganica (1600 m), in BiH Lukomir (1500 m) etc. I am sure in Slovenia there is no inhabited place over 1500 m, maybe even over 1000 m.

By average elevation most of the Balkan counties are higher than Slovenia. Regardless on Alps which occupy a smaller part of country as whole Slovenia is not so mountain country as some others in Europe.

Spoiler!

You are indeed right.

The highest inhabited place in Slovenia is Zgornje Jezersko at 973m.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...wns_by_country

[Volvado Seja]

yes

[rothaer]

Hmm. Interesting observation.

Yeah, I remember when I first was in the Triglav area and was flashed by it's beauty and nature. Which is pretty weird after I just had crossed all of Austria. And I wondered what's up, why are there no houses, no meadows, nothing?!

I just had a thought and it will simply primarily be connected to what is agriculturally used. High altitude meadows have an own name in German, Alm, and it's a characteristicum throughout the Alps. So looking for high altitude meadows on the pics will be even the more easy and telling thing. In this pic I marked the altitue meadows (Almen).



You actually seem to completely refrain from "the house on the Alm", which in all other parts of the Alpes is even what is the most characteristic topic! See this in Eastern Tyrol:



And here from Bohinjska Bistrica, Slovenia. Maybe one single house is up there, not notably more. It looks extremely untouched and great, but no one can enjoy the Alpine view from above from his house.



A really strange condition...

[Alenka]

Yeah, I remember when I first was in the Triglav area and was flashed by it's beauty and nature. Which is pretty weird after I just had crossed all of Austria. And I wondered what's up, why are there no houses, no meadows, nothing?!

I just had a thought and it will simply primarily be connected to what is agriculturally used. High altitude meadows have an own name in German, Alm, and it's a characteristicum throughout the Alps. So looking for high altitude meadows on the pics will be even the more easy and telling thing. In this pic I marked the altitue meadows (Almen).

Spoiler!

You actually seem to completely refrain from "the house on the Alm", which in all other parts of the Alpes is even what is the most characteristic topic! See this in Eastern Tyrol:

Spoiler!

And here from Bohinjska Bistrica, Slovenia. Maybe one single house is up there, not notably more. It looks extremely untouched and great, but no one can enjoy the Alpine view from above from his house.

Spoiler!

A really strange condition...

Triglavski Narodni Park area (880 km²) is heavily protected, even by law. Building or any other alteration is strictly regulated.



If someone wants to build there, the project idea is required to be published in a newspaper seeking for public opinion, and if even a single person opposes it, it is cancelled. Something like that. It's very strict. Even stuff like cutting trees or adding new ones, maybe even flowers are forbidden to be plucked. In general there's a spirit of "enjoy it, but leave it as you've found it, don't ruint it."

As you said, if you don't build your home up there, you can't enjoy the Alpine view from your house. But taking that nice view for yourself would be at the expense of everyone else, both from the valley and from the places afar, from having a pristine view overlooking the mountains. So I'd say building your house in an untouched area has rather selfish connotations here, and people would quite harshly judge anyone who even attempted doing that.

Most Slovenians see the Alps as a backdrop on the landscape, so perhaps that's why there seems to be an attitude that mountains are there to be looked at and admired, and occasionally just visited as a hiking or climbing trip. And perhaps this is why in general, those sporadic houses high in the Slovenian mountains tend to be "community huts" rather than someone's private home. Rather they are places where everyone can sleep over, and/or get a warm meal during their hike.

Perhaps seeing mountrains as almost a sacred place is something deep-rooted that has been passed along the generations? Historically, the island on lake Bled used to be a pagan Slavic temple dedicated to Živa, the goddess of life and fertility. And even after Christianization in 745 just church buildings were set up there, so while the religion changed, it still stayed as a place of worship. Maybe the mountain name Triglav is also not a coincidence, because one of the pagan Slavic gods has the exact same name.

Slovenian collective consciousness has what can be described almost as a cult of mount Triglav. So it's no surprise that a well known Slovene saying goes "you're not a real Slovenian until you've climbed Triglav." But what people might find interesting, is that after you do climb Triglav for the first time, at the top there's a peculiar Slovenian ritual of "Triglav baptism" of getting spanked with a climbing rope, by anyone who's climbed it before.

Spoiler!

It'is not some joke, by the way, this tradition is taken very seriously. And thus shall be done in each and every case.
They forgot to "baptise" this girl, which they realised while hiking down, for example.
And they returned back up just to do it!

Spoiler!

As to why Slovenians even developed the tradition to admire mountains from a distance rather than settle their homes at high altitudes, and how this first came to be, it very well could be the case that you're right, and it indeed has something to do with what is or has been agriculturally used.

[Vyctor]

Ethnical Slovenians don't belong to Balkan, also As many part of Croatia don't belong (geneticaly). Many of ex Yu people are there, so culturaly balcanic culture is not strange there. Geographically it is for debate

[MCMXCV]

I was just recently thinking about this. Today, it’s somewhat harder to determine, as normal (sitting) toilets are customary to be installed in new buildings and when renovating older ones; however, the true Balkans traditionally had squatting toilets, which are the consequence of the Ottoman sphere of influence. I’m aware it’s a somewhat unusual thing to observe, but I wonder if it could be another way to determine this border. Maybe it correlates with this map?



In Slovenia, I’ve never seen them and I don’t think they’ve ever been common. Already the old toilets in the countryside were small sheds with a seat. I’d appreciate feedback from people who come from the countries that are contested being Balkan or not. I know they appear(ed) in Serbia — maybe there’s a discrepancy between Vojvodina + Syrmia and Serbia proper? — and in countries more southern, and I believe also in Romania…