Village Grad or “Castle” is situated under the rock with the castle of the prince bishops of Brixen, landlords of Bled after 1004 AD. It was fist recorded in land register books in 1253. The original settlement was located on the castle plateau, which offered the best conditions for defense, due to its difficult accessibility. When the feeling of safety had grown people starte to settle on the present location. In 1602 there were 46 big and small farms in Grad.

On the location of the former medieval parish church of St. Martin’s with a defense wall against the Ottoman invasions, the present new gothic church was built in 1904 according to plans of the Viennese architect Friderich von Schmidt.

In 1855 the Swiss natural healer Arnold Rikli opened the famous climatic spa that contributed decisively to further development of tourism in Bled.

In 1883, the first memorial dedicated to Slovenian greatest poet, France Prešeren (1800 – 1849), was erected below the parish Church.

On 29th June 1908, big fire caught the village and destroyed the major part of the settlement in only half an hour. Luckily, there were no casulties. After the reconstruction, they planted a linden tree in the centre of the village to replace the ancient one.

The village Grad is also the home of coachmen or “fijaker”, representing one of the symbols of Bled tradition. After the construction of the railway in 1870, coachmen transported passengers from the station of Lesce to Bled. The freedom to provide coachmen services was granted to few families and so it remains until today.

Village Grad was renovated in 2011, partly with EU funds.

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Bled
Slovenia has only one island, but its uniqueness makes it more attractive. With its charm was, for centuries, a symbol of the town in which turists from all over the world like to return. This place, which exists for thousands of years, is Bled. It is one of the oldest and beautiful tourist places in Slovenia. [_Read more_]