In 1863 Fran Levstik declared France Prešeren as the greatest Slovenian poet. The growth of cult continued with the publication of the Poems of France Prešeren, for which Josip Jurčič and Josip Stritar were responsible in 1866. Six years later a mass pilgrimage took place to Vrba. In 1883, a pyramid-shaped memorial was erected in Bled featuring engravings of Prešeren's verses. On the 100th anniversary of his birth, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the National Reading Room in a house in Kranj, where the poet spent his last two years.The pinnacle of the Slovenian adoration of France Prešeren took place in 1905 when a monument was erected in the then Marijin trg (Mary's Square) in the centre of Ljubljana. Following the repurchase in 1939 of his birthhouse, in 1945, 8th March was officially declared a cultural public holiday. Prešeren's Memorial Museum was set up in Kranj in 1963. It collects and exhibits the latest content related to the poet's life and work, thus finally establishing a definitive spacial-temporal structure of the cult. Prešeren has marked many areas in recent decades; his image can be found on money, there are streets, squares, schools and even theatres named after him. The largest number of public monuments in Slovenia are dedicated to Prešeren. Many of his poems are a part of the school curriculum, while the process of worshipping the poet has created everything from Prešeren chocolates, wine and liqueur to various useful and decorative objects. In 2011 the literary historian Matjaž Kmecl even grew a 'Prešeren' rose, and Prešeren's poems have been interpreted both artistically and musically many times over.The Prešeren Award is named after the poet – the highest award in the area of artistic creativity in Slovenia.
In 1883 the Ljubljana Entertainment and Cultural Association erected a memorial in Bled. It was the first memorial dedicated to France Prešeren.
For reading night – on 2 December 1965 the sculptor Franc Ksaver Zajec, based on a painting by Goldenstein, painted a bust portrait that was erected at the centre of the event – live pictures (Goldenstein's sketches) titled Farewell to Prešeren. Based on this statue, a copy in bronze was erected in the year 2000 in the park in front of Prešeren's birth house in Vrba.
Prešeren as Dr. Fig): In the year 2000 the editorial board of TV Slovenia, under the leadership of the director Franc Slak and based on a script by Matjaž Kmecel and Branko Šomen, made a five-part series about the poet's life. Prešeren was played by Pavle Ravnohrib.
Ceremony on the unveiling of Prešeren's memorial in Ljubljana in 1905
The Žirovnica Institute for Tourism and Culture strives to cultivate the memory of the poet through this special theme path. In addition to Prešeren's birth house, the circular Path of Cultural Heritage includes the birth houses of three other Slovenian literates and the memorial apiary of the beekeeper Anton Janša. The writer and priest Fran Saleški Finžgar, who was born in Doslovče, led the campaign to purchase Prešeren's birth house in 1939. The birth house of Prešeren's friend and mentor, Matija Čop – the well-known linguist - is in Žirovnica, while Finžgar's successor, the writer Janez Jalen, was born in Rodine. There are bust statues of all the aforementioned famous men in the Alley of Famous Men in front of the Žirovnica primary school.
VisitThe Žirovnica Path of Cultural Heritage - Visit Žirovnica
