Homestead of Writer France Bevk

Domačija pisatelja Franceta Bevka

High above the Baška Valley, on the north side of 1303-metre-high Kojca mountain, lies the village of Zakojca (710 m) – the birthplace of writer France Bevk (1890-1970). Zakojca is accessible both from the Bača Valley (Grahovo, Hudajužna) and from Cerkno. A short, steeper road leads to the village from the Idrijca River (Reka) valley across Bukovo, while a longer, »scenic route« runs from Cerkno towards Porezen and through the picturesque villages of the Cerkno region.

Writer France Bevk spent his childhood and early youth at the Volar homestead (Zakojca 10), which is nestled on a slope above the village. The homestead was ceremoniously opened to visitors in 1990 – on the 100th anniversary of the writer's birth. Several authentically preserved rooms are on display in the house. The basement has a small stable for one or two cows and a few goats. On the ground floor are a vestibule and a kitchen with a hearth and an inbuilt pig kettle. The main living area is, of course, the place where the family gathered for meals and on long winter evenings. The room was heated by a tiled stove, while the modest shoemaker's corner furnished with a small table, two three-legged chairs and tools reveals that Bevk's father also made and repaired shoes. Closeby is a small bedroom in which the parents and smallest child slept, and another small room for Bevk's grandparents. After their death, this became France's room. Squeezed in the corner between the last small room and the kitchen is a shed for fodder, litter and tools.

Old, steep stairs still lead up to the attic, which is no longer the room in which Bevk wrote and illustrated his first book as a 12-year-old boy. The attic has been transformed into a large exhibition room displaying documents, photos, books and objects relating to the writer's life and work. France Bevk is presented as a writer, publicist, political and cultural worker. On the gable wall above the entrance is a memorial plate dedicated to the writer in 1977 by the Old Students of Gorica Club.

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Guided tours

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