The first edition of the TABR Festival of Hillforts - Castellieri transformed Vojščica in the Karst into a meeting point with the past

07.06.2025

On Saturday, 7th June, Vojščica in the Karst was very lively.

The quiet Karst village with views of the sea became the place for a new festival of the castellieri / festival dei castellieri, called TABR – named after the part of the settlement called "Tabor," a hill above the village where the cemetery and ruins of the old church of St. Vitus now stand.

In the past, Tabor was also a prehistoric settlement – a hillfort from the Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC), with a special position and views stretching across the Karst all the way to the sea. That’s why Vojščica was the main place for the festival, which was part of the Interreg ITA–SLO KAŠTellieri project, where the public institute Miren Kras is a project partner.

“With this festival, we want to bring closer the heritage of prehistoric hillforts, which is very present and rich in the Miren – Kostanjevica area as well as in the Karst and cross-border region. It’s important that people get to know, see, and feel this heritage because it belongs to all of us and we can all help protect and keep it for the future. Unfortunately, the hillfort heritage was ignored for a long time. With less farming and grazing, these landscapes grew wild and were forgotten. Through the KAŠTellieri project, we will clean, digitise, and bring some of these hillforts back to life with new tourist products,” says Anja Sedevčič Lasič, project leader at JZ Miren Kras.

The event was co-organised with the local association ŠKTD Farjovca, hoping the festival will continue even after the project ends in October 2026.

What could visitors experience on the festival day?

A full-day program started at 9:00 in the morning with a guided walk called From Hillfort to Hillfort, held in Slovene and Italian. The 8-km circular route led to two hillforts – Tabor near Vojščica and Grmače near the village of Novelo. The second still has well-preserved outer walls, some parts as high as 6 metres.

Many people joined the walk, and the organisers were especially happy that walkers came not only from neighbouring Italy (Trieste, Ronchi, Udine) but also from further places in Slovenia (Novo mesto, Ljubljana, Slovenske Konjice).

Afternoon creative workshops

Between 2 pm and 6 pm, activities took place at five spots in Vojščica, where five creative workshops were held:

  • In front of the church of St. Vitus, there was a stone carving workshop led by Petra Pike Moze from Lipa. Visitors could carve special souvenirs with designs from that time.

  • By the old school in Vojščica, visitors enjoyed the smells of prehistoric cooking. Archaeologist Polona Janežič showed ingredients, preparation, and cooking techniques of prehistoric food.

  • At the Rogelja herb farm, Magda Rogelja guided visitors through the flowering herb fields and in a special ritual introduced them to the use of herbs, which they could also taste.

  • At the Poščenik quarry just outside the village, two workshops were held: making bows and flutes, and weaving St. John’s wreaths.

Evening events at Tabor

Late afternoon the event moved to Tabor, near today’s cemetery. On a nice flat plateau with sea views and ruins of the old church, from 6:30 pm to 8 pm there were expert lectures.

Archaeologists Dr Maša Saccara, Dr Tomaž Fabec, Dr Federico Bernardini, and Dr Peter Turk presented the Karst’s archaeological heritage, past research, and results of LIDAR scans done during the project. The surprisingly large attendance of locals showed strong interest in this heritage.

Closing with music and stars

The evening ended with a special concert by the group TRŠ, who play instruments made from wood of a 6,500-year-old fir tree found in Čadrg.

The group members Jani and Samo Kutin (also known from the band Bakalina) found the well-preserved fir trunks two years ago while restoring an abandoned quarry in Čadrg. The wood was carefully stored, cut, dried, and analysed. They found the fir to be about 6,500 to 6,580 years old – from the Stone Age. The wood was especially well-preserved, keeping its strength and features to be used again.

Samo Kutin suggested making instruments from the wood to symbolically give it eternity and honour the amazing find. Over two years, they developed a series of unique instruments: flutes, shepherd’s pipes, lyres, harps, and now a violin being made by masters in Škofja Loka.

With the instruments came the idea of forming a band to play them.

So the first TRŠ concert was not just an artistic but also a historic event, perfectly closing the festival day with music played on prehistoric wood at a beautiful location.

After the concert, there was a gathering with astronomy lovers and star watching through telescopes – the night sky was clear and welcoming, allowing many views into infinity.

The organisers happily conclude the first edition of the TABR festival in Vojščica and optimistically announce a continuation next year with an even richer program!


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