150 Years of the Petrič Alpine Dairy Hut on the Laz Mountain Pasture
On Wednesday, 8 July 2026, we marked the 150th anniversary of the Petrič Alpine Dairy Hut on the Laz mountain pasture, one of the best-preserved alpine dairy huts in the Julian Alps. The gathering was organised by Tatjana Marušič, the hut’s custodian, and Lucija Gartner, the dairymaid of Laz, in cooperation with Bohinj Tourism.
Lucija welcomed those assembled, after which the hut’s owner, Marijana Cesar, read an account of her childhood memories of life on the mountain pasture. She concluded by thanking everyone involved in caring for the hut: “For me, the Petrič hut is not merely a building. It is part of my childhood, part of the memories I carry in my heart. … Alpine huts are not built only of wood and stone. They are built of labour, courage, blisters and joy, as well as the many stories once told outside their doors in the evenings.”
Klemen Langus of Bohinj Tourism opened the cultural programme by reading an excerpt from Dane Zajc’s play The Children of the River. Zajc was a long-term tenant of the hut and the partner of its present custodian, Tatjana Marušič. Young shepherds’ assistants and visitors also recited poems by Dane Zajc. Saša Roškar of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage used the example of the Petrič hut to present the distinctive features of Bohinj’s alpine architecture and the importance of women’s work in sustaining the region’s alpine pastoral economy. The event concluded with the opening of the Laz library. Arie van Ziel made its furnishings, while most of the books were provided by its future custodian, Tatjana Marušič, and by writer and publicist Irena Cerar, who obtained them from the UMco and Sidarta publishing houses.
Alongside the cultural programme, all the visitors—both those from nearby Krstenica and those of us who had travelled from more distant places—were treated to excellent potica, cheese and Laz cake.
The commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Petrič hut is an example of heritage-making that brings together different stakeholders and sectors: owners, custodians and users; farmers, second-home owners and casual visitors; and agriculture, tourism and culture. Different visions often generate tensions, even frictions, yet in Laz these diverse interests and contested perspectives appear to coexist successfully, not least because of the openness and willingness of everyone involved.
