Trg svobode 6, Laško
Monument to Anton Aškerc
An uncompromising sense of justice blended with poetic memories of journeys to the East.
LOCATION STORY
Monument to Anton Aškerc
The monument to Anton Aškerc was created during a sculpture workshop in 2000 by academic sculptor Kiar Meško.
Anton Aškerc, born on 9 January 1856 into a farming family in Globoko near Rimske Toplice, was a leading Slovenian epic poet, priest and archivist. After secondary school in Celje and theological studies in Maribor, he entered the priesthood, but his freethinking and progressive views and conflicts with church authorities led to frequent transfers. His ecclesiastical career ended with early retirement, after which he became Ljubljana's first city archivist in 1898. For several years he also successfully edited the respected literary journal Ljubljanski zvon. He died in Ljubljana on 10 June 1912 and is buried at the Navje memorial cemetery.
Aškerc entered literary history as a central figure of Slovenian realism and a master of ballads and romances. He established narrative or epic poetry in Slovenian literature, replacing love and sentimental themes with powerful historical motifs, social injustice, patriotism and freedom of thought. His most important work is the 1890 collection Ballads and Romances, regarded as a high point of Slovenian epic poetry. Among his best-known poems are the fantastic ballad Mejnik, the historical ballad Kronanje v Zagrebu about the fate of Matija Gubec, the love poem Anka and the celebrated poem Zlatorog.
The Municipality of Laško declared 2026 the Year of Aškerc to mark the 170th anniversary of his birth. Throughout the year, cultural, artistic, educational and tourism events across the destination honoured his rich literary legacy.
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Aškerc's Damask rose
When Anton Aškerc travelled towards the Orient and spent time in the Middle East, he was captivated by the fragrant rose fields of Bulgaria and the precious rose oil he bought in Plovdiv. From these unforgettable journeys he brought home not only impressions for his poetry but also a very special tangible souvenir — a cutting of an original Damask rose (Rosa damascena). He planted the precious plant beside his family home at Senožete above Rimske Toplice, where he had spent his youth. The story of Aškerc's Damask rose remains one of the poet's most romantic and living legacies.
Its vitality is remarkable: descendants of the original plant have survived at the homestead for more than a century. Every year in the first half of June, the historic shrub is covered with lush flowers whose intoxicating fragrance fills the surroundings. This living memory also continues in local cuisine. The poet's great-nephew uses the petals to make Damask rose jelly according to an old family recipe, a product carrying the recognised Taste Laško quality certificate.
The historic rose has also received expert recognition and botanical confirmation. The plant is so distinctive and valuable that descendants are now carefully propagated and conserved for future generations under the official name ‘Aškerc's Damask rose’ by specialists at the Volčji Potok Arboretum.
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HOTEL ŠPICA
Hotel Špica Laško is a renovated hotel in the very centre of Laško, opened in its present form in 2020 on the site of the town's first hotel. Hotel Horiak was, until the beginning of the 20th century, the only hotel in Laško apart from the spa. Hotel Špica offers 28 comfortable rooms with beds from 200 to 210 cm in length. The complex also includes a restaurant, pizzeria, rooms for private groups and conference facilities.
AŠKERC HOMESTEAD
The home of Slovenia's great epic poet Anton Aškerc has been preserved in its original form and converted into a museum with ethnological and literary exhibitions in Senožete, a small village on the northern slope of Stražnik above Rimske Toplice. A small dairy, focused mainly on sheep's milk with smaller amounts of goat's and cow's milk, operates in the building that replaced the masonry granary. Its products can be tasted and bought on the farm. The Aškerc house also hosts cultural and literary evenings and other events.