Explore Bled

St. Martin's Parish Church is the Gothic Revival parish church of Bled, built from 1903 to 1905 to plans by the Austrian architect Friedrich von Schmidt on the site of an older Gothic church. Its interior is painted with frescoes by Slavko Pengov, and parts of the old defensive wall around the church survive.

Bled Castle stands on a precipice above the northern shore of Lake Bled and was first mentioned in 1011, when Emperor Henry II gave the estate to the bishops of Brixen. Its oldest part is a Romanesque tower; the buildings stand around two courtyards linked by a staircase, with a 16th-century chapel and a museum of the area's history.

Lake Bled is a lake of glacial and tectonic origin in the Julian Alps, beside the town of Bled, about 2.1 km long and 1.4 km wide. Bled Castle stands on a cliff above its northern shore, a small island with a pilgrimage church lies near its western end, and the World Rowing Championships have been held here four times.

Bled Island is the small island in Lake Bled, reached by flat-bottomed wooden pletna boats rowed standing. A Baroque stairway of 99 stone steps from 1655 leads up to the pilgrimage Church of the Assumption, rebuilt in the late 17th century, with a 52 m tower, Gothic fresco remains from around 1470 and a bell visitors ring.

Vintgar Gorge is a 1.6 km gorge carved by the Radovna River on the edge of Triglav National Park, about 4 km northwest of Bled. Wooden walkways and bridges, first opened in 1893, run between rock walls 50 to 100 m high past pools and rapids to the 13 m Šum Falls at its end.