A new tourist product in Kropa

The establishment of the Educational park in Kotel is the result of a joint idea between ​​the Radovljica Public Institute for Tourism and Culture, the Iron Forging Museum in Kropa and the Institute for the Protection of Culture Heritage of Slovenia, Kranj unit. Following a successful application to the Public Tender for Co-financing Investments in Public and Shared Tourism Infrastructure and Natural Landmarks in Tourist Destinations, which is financed by the European Union from the Recovery and Resilience Fund (NOO), the investment in Kropa was carried out under the guidance of the Radovljica Public Institute for Tourism and Culture between 2023 and 2025. In addition, as supporting tourist infrastructure, an information point opposite the Radovljica bus station was erected using funds from the tender, inviting visitors to Radovljica to discover the surrounding areas. The aim is to encourage visitors to go to smaller towns and villages in the area.

The aim of the Family Adventures in Kropa project was to equip the area next to the Bodlaj vigenjc forge with interactive content and prepare a theme trail around Kropa with an emphasis on establishing content that, following the example of the popular ‘With a Bee Through Radovljica’ family adventure, would be included in a new interactive family adventure. Subsequently, following demolition of the building at Kropa No.47, an additional opportunity arose to comprehensively plan and connect the buildings into a meaningful whole.

The result was the establishment of the Educational Park in Kotel, which is still undergoing work, connecting the former Matiček House (Kropa 47), which the Municipality of Radovljica had to demolish due to its poor condition, with buildings along the waterside. These are: the Čačman shrine by the bridge, the walls of the former distillery that belonged to the house, and even higher up along the stream, the former Bodlaj vigenjc nail-making workshop. From the forge, there is also an interesting view of the meandering of the Kroparica stream into a millrace.

The project in Kropa included the design of a plan for the entire area, the renovation and supplementation of information boards around the village with digitised content, the preparation and presentation of a digital circular trail around Kropa, which encourages visitors to walk around the wider area of ​​Kropa, the restoration and protection of the crumbling walls of the old distillery, and the planning of informative and interactive content in the Educational Park in Kotel. A booklet of tasks for children is also being created, together with the final implementation of an interactive family trail, which will connect the themed circular trail and the learning park into a family-friendly tourist product.

The cost of the project is EUR 120,000 + VAT. Of this, the institute will receive 80% in co-financing from EU funds, which equates to EUR 96,000. The remaining funds will be provided from other sources of financing.