Bohinjska Bistrica

People lived in the Bohinj valley in prehistory, and the first villages took shape in the Iron Age, when deposits of bean ore, a type of iron ore, began a long tradition of iron-working. East of Bohinjska Bistrica, the Giant's Castle site, Ajdovski gradec, is a fortification of the 5th century BC that served as a refuge in late Roman times, and two more sites nearby show artificial terraces, one with traces of buildings from the late Iron Age and the Roman era. The village appears in written sources in 1253 as Vustris; its name means "Bistrica in Bohinj", from the Slavic word for a quick-flowing stream.

For centuries herding cattle on the high pastures was the basis of farming here, and ironworking, with the charcoal burning that supplied it, was the basis of the economy. The Zois family left a mansion with a tower clock in the village and another in Stara Fužina, and Baron Žiga Zois had the Devil's Bridge built over the Mostnica gorge. In 1778 four men from Bohinj made the first ascent of Triglav.

The Bohinj Railway, built by Austria-Hungary between 1900 and 1906 to link southern Germany and Austria with Trieste, enters its 6,327-metre tunnel at Bohinjska Bistrica. In the First World War it carried most of Austria's supplies to the Isonzo Front, and late in 1915 a narrow-gauge line was laid from the station to Ukanc at the far end of the lake. In the Second World War the valley saw Partisan fighting, and memorials to the fallen stand in its villages. Today the village is an important tourist destination and the seat of the Municipality of Bohinj.

Bohinj's culture grew out of mountain herding. The valley is one of the places most associated with the Cika, Slovenia's only native breed of cattle, a red to chestnut-brown dairy cow used to grazing on Alpine pastures. The alpine dairy museum in Stara Fužina is devoted to cheesemaking and the life of herders on the high pastures, and each September the Cow Ball near the lake marks the end of the grazing season. In spring a flower festival with guided walks celebrates the valley's meadows, home to Alpine plants such as Zois's bellflower and the Triglav gentian.

The village keeps its own history in the Tomaž Godec Museum, in the old tannery of the Godec family, with exhibits on tanning, the Isonzo battles of 1915–17 fought in the mountains towards the Soča, and the Iron Route across the Alps. The valley has a place in Slovene literature, with novels by Janez Jalen set in the valley.

Outdoor life sets the rhythm. In summer the river and the lake are used for swimming, sailing, kayaking, rafting and fishing, and the valley for walking, climbing and mountain biking; in winter skiers take the ski bus to Vogel, Soriška Planina and the Pokljuka cross-country trails.

About 1,700 people live in Bohinjska Bistrica, the largest of the 24 villages of the Bohinj valley and the seat of its municipality, with the valley's railway station. The village is divided by the station road into Zgornja Vas and Spodnja Vas. The politician and author France Bučar was among the people who were born or lived here.

Tourism is a large part of local life, with the lakeside settlement of Ribčev Laz given over largely to hotels and holiday homes, while farming and herding continue in the surrounding villages. For centuries Bohinj was the country's strongest centre of alpine herding: from May to mid-July the herders moved the cattle up to the lower and then the high pastures, and in autumn brought them gradually back down to the valley. Most of Bohinj, and all of its high mountains, lie within Triglav National Park and are protected by a special law. Summer brings crowds to the lake, served by the free weekend park-and-ride bus and the cycle route through the meadows, and winters are quieter, centred on skiing.

Bohinj is known throughout Slovenia for its locally made Alpine cheeses, a tradition rooted in the summer herding of cattle on the high pastures. Mohant, a soft cows'-milk cheese with a strong smell and a piquant, sometimes bitter taste, is the valley's best-known speciality and has protected status.

The rest of the table is the farmhouse cooking of Gorenjska. Žganci, made from buckwheat, maize or wheat flour and regarded as a national dish of Slovenia, especially as buckwheat ajdovi žganci, is often compared with polenta. Štruklji, rolled dumplings boiled, steamed or baked with many kinds of filling, were once kept for feast days and are now everyday food, and Carniolan sausage, kranjska klobasa, is served in the inns. Mushrooms have always been popular, and creamy mushroom soup is a common dish on feast days. Inns are spread through the villages, from Srednja Vas to Stara Fužina, and the lakeside settlement of Ribčev Laz is the handiest place to eat by the water.