Pr Bartol

The one-storey building before you has a very simple, smooth and undecorated façade that is exceptionally well preserved. The façade has five axes, meaning its windows are arranged in five vertical lines. The original masonry building is believed to have been erected in 1507.

The present appearance of Pr Bartol dates from the 19th century, as confirmed by the date 1809 on the entrance portal. It commemorates extensive renovations and heightening of the entire row of houses — including Pr Bartol — on the site of the former old manor. This building activity was encouraged by Anton Tessiori, a master mason from Friuli, who bought and renovated the neighbouring building on the left.

In the year of the renovation, merchant Peter Fabiani married into the Krajnc family, who owned the house at the time. The following year he and his wife Margareta celebrated the birth of their daughter Jožefa, but the harsh fate of the 19th century struck immediately: Margareta died ten days after the birth, and baby Jožefa in her third month. Peter Fabiani disappears from the historical record after the deaths of his wife and child.

Ownership changed frequently until the first half of the 20th century. In 1929 peddler Josip Bartol from the Ribnica area bought the house, then numbered Laško 59, at auction. He first opened a shop selling wickerwork and later mixed goods. At the same time, Metka Marn operated a small business for ‘Repair and sale of umbrellas’ in another commercial space, followed later by painter and decorator Božidar Krotil.

Before the Second World War Josip Bartol bought an estate in Marija Gradec from Jacobi, owner of Marija Gradec Manor; it is still known today as Bartolovo.

At the start of the German occupation the Bartol family was deported and German settlers from Kočevje moved into their premises. They too ran a shop in the building and even kept its name, changing only the signs into German. At the end of the war they fled to Germany and left several photographs behind. When the Bartol family returned from exile, they found an almost completely empty house and had to start again from nothing. The new authorities, however, no longer allowed them to reopen the shop.