The monument is located on the right side of the main road to Kranjska Gora at the Mojstra- na-Dovje intersection. It is recognisable by the proud posture of Jakob Aljaž looking to Mount Triglav. A visit to the monument does not take up much time and we recommend all visitors pay it a visit. From here, you can enjoy a magnificent view of Mojstrana and the mighty mountains surrounding it.
The statue, the work of the Belgrade-based sculptor Nebojša Mitrić, was unveiled on 27 August 1989, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Aljaž’s arrival at Dovje.
The priest Jakob Aljaž served in Dovje from 1889 until his death in 1927. He was a composer (he composed the well-known song “Oj, Triglav, moj dom” – “Oh, Triglav, my home”), a singer, an enthusiastic mountaineering worker and the initiator of the construction of numerous mountain lodges and trails.
Jakob Aljaž monument, Kranjska Gora tourist board
Jakob Aljaž (1845-1927) was one of the initiators of the construction of the water supply system in the village of Dovje, the founding of the educational society and the construction of the cultural centre in Dovje. He was an advocate of Sloveneness and a national leader, and was involved in the founding of the Slovenian Alpine Club. He is probably best known for buying the land at the top of Triglav from the Municipality of Dovje in 1895. During the times when Slovenian and German Alpine clubs competed in the Julian Alps, Jakob Aljaž was the one who contributed the most to Triglav remaining Slovenian. On 7 August 1895, he erected a tower on the mountain, made of galvanised steel sheets, and that day became the official holiday of the Municipality of Kranjska Gora. In the same year, he also bought the whole of the Dovje area beneath Mount Triglav. In 1896, he built the Triglavska koča lodge at Kredarica, and next to it a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. In 1894 he built the first temporary lodge in Vrata. Two years later, on the order of the Slovenian Alpine Club, he built a larger lodge, which was named Aljaževa koča, (Aljaž’s Lodge), without his knowledge. Like the Triglavska koča lodge at Kredarica, Aljaževa koča lodge soon grew too small, so Aljaž built a much larger one next to it in 1904 – the Aljažev dom lodge. In 1909, an avalanche swept away the lodge, and on 17 July 1910, the newly built, much larger Aljažev dom lodge with a brick ground floor was opened, which still stands today.
The wooden staff that Aljaž used on his hikes in the mountains is kept in the Slovenian Alpine Museum.
