The St. Mary's Chapel is one of many little chapels that you can find in Slovenia. Here, every village has at least one. And behind each one, there is a different story of why they built it. In the eastern part of the country of Slovenia, the chapels are mostly dedicated to sailors. Yes, you read that right. Although eastern part of Slovenia has no sea (although there was sea in the past), there were many young men living in that region, which was very poor in the past, and they went away to work as sailors in search of a better life. But many of them did not return, or they left when the sea was stormy, and that is why local people decide to build chapels for them. Some of them are quite big and they almost look like mini churches.
But western part of the country of Slovenia is different. Here, most chapels are dedicated to soldiers in wars. As you probably know, both world wars had a big affects on the villages in the western part of the country.
The St. Mary's Chapel in Drežnica is one of them. It was built during the second world war, and it was dedicated to young local boys who went to war to fight for their country and homes. Sadly, the original chapel was destroyed in the year 2000, when some hooligans (they still haven't found out who it was) blew up a grenade next to it. In 2001, the local people have started rebuilding it, and nowadays, when you look at it, it seems like it was built yesterday.
A week or two after they have destroyed the chapel, there was a big landslide on the road that passes by it and goes to the town of Drežniške Ravne. Maybe it is just a bad coincidence, but most of the local people, mostly older women, do not think so. It took quite a long time to remove the landslide. Luckily, there is another way to Drežniške ravne, through Jezerca, otherwise people who live there, would not have the access to the civilization.
The chapel itself is beautiful, with a lot of details, colours and a song, written on walls. What I do not like about it is the look of Virgin Mary, which looks quite scary to me. You can see the photo below, and decide for yourself whether it seems scary or not:
In case you are wondering how to get to this chapel – the way there is pretty simple. If you are walking the Drežnica – Drežniške Ravne – Jezerca trail, you will see the chapel on the way between Drežnica and Drežniške Ravne. In fact, it is situated almost exactly halfway between those two villages.
You are now probably asking yourself how will you know when you are on the halfway. Do not worry, it is impossible to miss this chapel, because it is situated right next to the road. For better orientation, you will see a house uphill on your right side after a big curve, and the chapel is situated on the left side of the road.
From the back side of the chapel, you can see the Jezerca town. The view is really beautiful, but in spring and summer, when trees have a lot of leaves on them, it is quite difficult to see anything. Also, if you choose to look there, be careful, because you can fall down and it is pretty high. (But this way, you can get to Jezerca faster. :)
