About the monastery

During the time of the noble Spanheim family in the 12th and 13th centuries, Kostanjevica na Krki became a strong economic, political and administrative centre along the then regional border. In 1234, the Duke of Carinthia, Bernard of Spanheim, founded the Cistercian monastery of Fons Beatae Mariae in the vicinity of Kostanjevica na Krki, at the source of the Obrh stream, to consolidate his economic power and to provide a final resting place for his family. He gave the monastery extensive land estates, making it one of the richest properties in the region Carniola at the time. Simultaneously, it was the centre of religious, educational, commercial and economic life. At its peak, the monastery was home to a maximum of 86 monks and laymen.

Originally an Early Gothic monastery, it was extensively renovated and enlarged several times during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In the first half of the 18th century, the Baroque facade and the defensive towers with a painting by Fran Jelovšek were built, and one of the largest arcaded courtyards in Europe was completed. In 1786, the monastery was dissolved by the emperor Joseph II. The property was transferred to the Carniola religious fund, the church furnishings were auctioned off and the church was desacralised. The former monastery became the seat of the forest administration and notaries, and a large number of inhabitants moved in. After the World War II, the building complex housed the Agrokombinat, Labod and Iskra companies with their production facilities. With the closure of the monastery, a process of deterioration began, culminating in its burning and demolition in 1942-1943, and its subsequent destruction after the end of the war. The first conservation and restoration interventions were carried out by students under the supervision of Professor France Stele around 1933, and a thorough restoration began in 1957, after the bell tower collapsed. Protection and restoration work on the former monastery has been ongoing ever since and is still in progress today. In 1989, the former monastery was declared a cultural monument of national importance and listed among the monuments to which the state pays special attention. In 1974, Galerija Božidar Jakac moved into the complex of the former monastery, while the Forma Viva Sculpture Park had been in the vicinity since 1961. The space of the former monastery and its surroundings have proved to be an ideal place for organising various cultural activities in the field of visual arts, music and performing arts.