Toolmakers would forge nails and implements needed in farming, forestry, transporting and building, whereas farriers engaged in making horseshoes and fitting them onto the hooves of working animals.
When a farmer or coachman noticed their horse needed new horseshoes, they took him to a blacksmith. While at the smithy, the owner held the animal's leg and the blacksmith measured the hoof. He then heated and bent the horseshoe to the correct shape, trimmed the hoof and nailed the hot shoe onto it with special iron nails.
A blacksmith's work lasted from dawn, when it was still fresh, till dusk. The skills were handed down from father to son and so were the smithies. Some blacksmiths even acted as dentists by repairing people's and horses' teeth.
They used to be very busy, but today hardly anyone keeps a fire burning in their workshop. Some blacksmiths come to shoe the horses at people's homes.
In the Notranjska region, traditional blacksmithing is being preserved by the Heritage House.
| Types of blacksmiths: | farriers, toolmakers |
| Uses of forged tools: | agriculture, forestry, construction |
| Activities of farriers: | horse shoeing, veterinary work |
| Temperature range when forging steel: | 800–1150°C |
| Forging equipment: | tongs, anvil, hammer |
| Uses of forged nails: | making of the "drevak" boat, construction, horseshoeing, shoemaking |
Transport routes in the Notranjska region have always been important in terms of economy and communications because they were the intersection of routes in the direction from Trieste to Ljubljana, the Dolenjska region and Zagreb, the Kočevje and the Kvarner region.
Transportation of cargo developed as early as the Middle Ages and then gradually evolved in horse-drawn carriage driving (transportation services).
In the past, flax growing and processing was widely spread in the Notranjska region and nearly every house had its own processing equipment.
In the past, flax growing and processing was widely spread in the Notranjska region and nearly every house had its own processing equipment.
The use of the drevak boat was first described by Valvasor; it was used in the Lož valley, on Lake Cerknica, the Planina plain and the Ljubljana Marshes.
The use of the drevak boat was first described by Valvasor; it was used in the Lož valley, on Lake Cerknica, the Planina plain and the Ljubljana Marshes.
Spirit was distilled from fruit grown in the high-trunk orchards in farmers' gardens.
For distillation, only the damaged fruit was ground; the rest was consumed. The ground fruit was then sealed in large barrels, soaked and allowed to ferment for about six weeks. When fermented enough, it was ready for distillation.
Considerable amounts of limestone and firewood made lime burning one of the activities with which the local people earned their living.
Considerable amounts of limestone and firewood made lime burning one of the activities with which the local people earned their living.
With the establishment of the border between Italy and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after the First World War, our lands suddenly found themselves in a border area.
With the establishment of the border between Italy and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I, our lands suddenly turned into a border region, which initiated the activity that has always thrived near borders: smuggling. The border ran directly along this area and the main smuggling routes to Italy led over the Javorniki hills.
In Slovenia and the Notranjska region especially, dormouse trapping is a centuries-old tradition.
The first records on trapping and consumption of dormice date back to the 13th century. Later on, the tradition was also described extensively by explorer and scholar Johann Weikhard von Valvasor.
