Triglav

Triglav ([ˈtɾiːɡlɐʊ]; translated 'three-headed', Italian Monte Tricorno, German analogous to the Slovenian pronunciation also Triglau) is the highest peak in Slovenia and the Julian Alps at 2864 m. i. J.. It lies in the centre of the Triglav National Park named after it, the only national park in Slovenia.

Due to its typical shape, Triglav is visible from distances of over 100 kilometres - for example from large parts of Carinthia. Imposing is its north face above the Vratatal, with a width of three kilometers and a height of 1500 meters to the summit one of the highest walls in the Eastern Alps (after the east face of the Watzmann and with the north face of the Hochstadel in the Lienz Dolomites). The actual wall up to the so-called Kugy-band, above which the summit structure starts, is still 1000 meters high.

Triglav is one of Slovenia's national symbols and a central part of the national coat of arms, which also appears on the country's flag. Slovenia, which joined the euro area on 1 January 2007 and adopted the euro as its official currency, also chose Triglav for the national side of the 50-euro cent coin.

Origin of the name

The name means something like "three-headed" or "three-headed". The origin of the name is unclear. According to one legend, an ancient Slavic deity, the three-headed Triglav, was enthroned on the mountain, ruling the sky with one head, the earth with the second, and inclining his third head towards the subterranean realm. Others believe that the name derives from the shape of the mountain: three peaks were associated with three heads.

Balthasar Hacquet called the mountain by the name Terglou in 1783; Adolf Schmidl did likewise in 1840 - he gave Triglav in brackets. In Herder's Konversations-Lexikon 1857 only Terglou appeared; Julius Kugy also used this name in 1876. Meyers Konversations-Lexikon in 1897 named it after Triglav in parentheses. Other historical German spellings are Terglau and Terklou.

History

The first known but failed attempt to climb the mountain took place in 1777. It was undertaken by the famous explorer of the Julian Alps, the world traveller, naturalist and physicist Belsazar Hacquet (1739-1815), accompanied by miners of the Krainer science promoter Sigmund Zois von Edelstein (Slovenian: Žiga Zois).

The first ascent was made on 26 August 1778 by Lovrenc Willomitzer (1747-1801) from Stara Fužina with Luka Korošec (1747-1827) from Koprivnik, Stefan Rožič (1739-1802) from Savica and Matija Kos (1744-1798) from Jereka. This time, too, the ascent was managed by Belsazar Hacquet, then a university professor in Ljubljana, who himself, however, did not reach the summit.

Triglav north face and Vrata valley


Monument in Ribčev Laz to the first climbers of Triglav. Triglav in the background