THE NAME LIVEK ORIGINATES FROM THE PRE-SLAVIC TIMES. IT WAS FIRST REGISTERED IN LATIN AS LIVISCHIA 1500 YEARS AGO. FROM THE YEAR 1521 TO PRESENT TIMES, AT LEAST TEN BOUNDARY LINES EXTENDED OVER THE LIVEK AREA. THE LIVEK’S SOUL WAS MARKED THE MOST BY THE TIMES OF THE SERENISSIMA. FOR ALMOST 300 YEARS, LIVEK WAS UNDER THE RULE OF THE VENETIAN DOGES. THE INTERTWINING OF THE LIVEK AREA AND THE SLOVENIAN VENETO (ITALY, FRIULI) IS STILL PRESENT. DESPITE BORDERS, STATE REGULATIONS, AND POLITICAL REGIMES, LIVEK ALWAYS MANAGED TO LIVE ITS LIFE. THAT IS, HOW IT IS STILL TODAY. AS THOUGH, IT WOULD BE A PLACE ON THE MARGIN.

IN MAY 1915, THE INHABITANTS OF LIVEK WENT INTO EXILE. THE EMPTY VILLAGE FOUND ITSELF ON THE FRONT LINE OF ONE OF THE GREATEST CONFLICTS IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANKIND. TO BE FROM LIVEK WITH A MEADOW ON THE KUK AND A PIECE OF FOREST ON THE MATAJUR DURING WAR WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT WOULD DRAW ATTENTION. WHEN PEOPLE RETURNED AFTER THREE YEARS, EVERYTHING WAS DEMOLISHED. CORPSES WERE LYING THROUGHOUT FORESTS. CRATERS GAPED ALL OVER THE MEADOWS. PEOPLE GATHERED MATERIALS FROM TRENCHES FOR RESTORATION. THE BARBED WIRES HAVE BECOME FENCES FOR PASTURES. A GRENADE HAS BECOME AN UMBRELLA STAND, EMBRASURES WERE TURNED INTO BARN FLOORING, HELMETS HAVE BECOME LADLES FOR COMPOST, WAVY TIN ROOFS OF THE TRENCHES HAVE BECOME ROOFING FOR HAYLOFTS… AND LIFE WENT ON.

THE FIRST WORLD WAR HAD A STRONG IMPACT ON THE LIVES OF THESE PLACES. THE REMAINS OF LARGE MILITARY FACILITIES IN THE AREA AROUND KOLOVRAT AND MATAJUR ARE THE SILENT WITNESSES OF THE WAR. AT THE TIME OF THE ISONZO FRONT, LIVEK RESEMBLED A FORMICARY. BEFORE THE LAST, 12TH ISONZO OFFENSIVE (24/10/1917), THERE WAS AROUND 40 THOUSANDS SOLDIER IN THE LIVEK AREA (TODAY COUNTING 250 INHABITANTS). THE WAR STORIES ARE NARRATED BY: MUSEUM OF KOBARID, AN OPEN AIR MUSEUM “ZA GRADOM” ON THE WALK OF PEACE ON KOLOVRAT, AND THE MUSEUM COLLECTION ENTITLED “KOLOVRAT 1917” IN LIVEK.

“YOU KNOW CAPORETTO? YES, I SAID. I REMEMBERED IT AS A WHITE LITTLE TOWN WITH A CAMPANILE IN THE VALLEY. IT WAS A CLEAN LITTLE TOWN AND THERE WAS A FINE FOUNTAIN IN THE SQUARE,” AMONG OTHER THINGS WROTE ERNEST HEMINGWAY, AN AMERICAN JOURNALIST AND WRITER IN THE NOVEL A FAREWELL TO ARMS. HE WROTE THE NOVEL IN THE YEAR 1928, BUT HE GOT THE IDEA FOR IT FROM THE EVENTS AT THE ISONZO FRONT AND AFTER THE BATTLE OF CAPORETTO (KOBARID). IN THE MUSEUM OF KOBARID, A SPECIAL NOOK IS DEDICATED TO ERNEST HEMINGWAY WHERE DISTINGUISHED GUESTS AND OTHER VISITORS ARE SIGNING THE BOOK BELOW HIS PICTURE.

THE HAYLOFT ARE THE PECULIARITY OF THE VALLEY AND THE MEDIUM MOUNTAIN REGION ABOVE THE SOČA RIVER. THEY ARE THE ONLY REMNANT OF THE CONSTRUCTION CULTURE OF THE NATIVE INHABITANTS. THIS TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION WAS USED ALREADY IN THE 12TH CENTURY. THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF HAYLOFTS. ALTHOUGH MOST OF THEM ARE ALREADY RUINED, THE STACKS OF STONES STILL MAINTAIN THE HOME NAME OF THE FORMER OWNERS.

THE LIVEK ETHNOLOGY IS THE WEALTH OF THE POOR. THE LIVEK INHABITANTS CELEBRATE ST. FLORIAN (JEVŠČEK), MIDSUMMER NIGHT OF ST. IVAN, ST. PETER (PETAR), AND ST. JACOB (LIVEK). CELEBRATIONS ARE MODEST, CORDIAL, AND OPEN FOR EVERYONE. A FAIRY-TALE CHARACTER REFLECTING THE LIVEK’S SOUL IS KRIVOPETE. THIS IS A MYSTERIOUS AND SMART WILD WOMAN. DISTINGUISHED BY HER BECK FACING FEET. SHE HIDES IN THE FORESTS AND CAVES. SOMETIMES SHE HELPS PEOPLE AND SOMETIMES SHE DOES NOT. IT DEPENDS ON PEOPLE. AS IT BEFITS A SECRET, THE INHABITANTS OF LIVEK DO NOT TALK ABOUT KRIVOPETE. YOU CAN ONLY HAVE AN INKLING ABOUT THESE THINGS.

THE SHEEN OF THE FIRE ATTRACTS. A BONFIRE UNIFIES A GROUP AND FILLS IT WITH POSITIVE ENERGY. KRESNIK, SON OF THE LORD OF THE UNIVERSE, IS AN IMPORTANT OLD SLAVIC DEITY. TODAY, THE BONFIRES AND THE GOAT’S BEARD (KRENICE – ARUNCUS DIOICUS) ARE INTENDED FOR SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST. WE CHANGE THE NAMES OF THE SAINTS, BUT THE MAGIC OF THE BONFIRES IN THE NIGHT REMAINS – THE NIGHT, WHICH WILL TURN INTO THE LONGEST DAY OF THE YEAR, THE 21ST OF JUNE.

OWING TO THE BEAUTY OF THESE PLACES, I DECIDED TO TAKE THE INTERNSHIP IN THE SOČA VALLEY AFTER GRADUATING FROM MEDICAL SCHOOL. NOW, I AM A PENSIONER AND STILL A BIG DEVOTEE OF THIS NATURE. MY PLEASURE AND SATISFACTION IS LANDSCAPING THE AREA AROUND NEBESA. I ENHANCE AND MAINTAIN MY PHYSICAL STRENGTH BY ASCENDING THE STEEP PATHS OF KUK AND KOLOVRAT.

IN MY LIFE, I WAS A GIRL FROM THE SEASIDE, MOTHER OF TWO DAUGHTERS, JOURNALIST OF A SEROUS NEWSPAPER. NOW THAT I LIVE IN NEBESA, I AM THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT I PREVIOUSLY WAS. I REPLACED THE SEA WITH MOUNTAINS. MATERNITY WAS REPLACED BY THE ROLE OF A GRANDMOTHER. FROM JOURNALISM, WHICH IS A WAY OF LIFE WITH A DEVIL’S PACE, I RETAINED THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE, CURIOSITY, AND KNOWLEDGE. I DO NOT WRITE ARTICLES ANYMORE. INSTEAD, I ANNUALLY WRITE A VERY SPECIAL FAIRY-TALE FOR THE INHABITANTS OF LIVEK. MAYBE ONE DAY I WILL SHARE THEM TO YOU.

PUPA AND LOLA ARE TWO NEWFOUNDLANDS. THEY ARE TIRED FROM THE LONG DOG’S LIFE IN THE MOUNTAINS. THEY ARE BEINGS OF A WONDERFUL AND NOBLE CHARACTER. THEY ARE A PERSONIFICATION OF GRACE. WHAT POET LORD BAYRON WROTE FOR HIS DOG, APPLIES TO THEM IN FULL. “BEAUTY WITHOUT VANITY, STRENGTH WITHOUT INSOLENCE, COURAGE WITHOUT FEROCITY, AND ALL THE VIRTUES OF MAN WITHOUT HIS VICES.” PUPA AND LOLA WILL PASS ON TO THE DOGS BEYOND WITHOUT A SINGLE SIN ON THEIR SOUL.

CONSIDERING ITS LOOK AND ACTIVITY, NINJA IS A LARGE CAT, HUNTING EVERYTHING THAT CRAWLS AND CREEPS. ITS FELINE SOUL BELONGS TO THE GENUS OF THE SPECIALISTS OF NINJUTSU ART, I.E. NINJAS. THAT IS, HOW IT SEEMS. IT IS A FOUNDLING. IT IS AND IT IS NOT A DOMESTIC CAT. IT LOOKS GOOD-TEMPERED. IN REALITY, IT IS NOT. IT DOES, WHAT IT FEELS LIKE IT. IT ESTABLISHES COMPLICATED DIPLOMATIC RELATION WITH PUPA, LOLO, AND DOGS IN GENERAL. AFTER EVERYTHING WICKED, IT HAS COME UP WITH AND WILL COME UP WITH IT SEEMS TO ME THAT NINJA IS PROBABLY A LITTLE RELATED TO EDGAR ALLAN POE’S BLACK CAT.