Merry Day of Culture

It was first celebrated in 2000 on the initiative of the Ministry of Culture to mark the bicentennial of the poet's birth. Afterwards, cultural institutions throughout Slovenia established the practice of opening their doors for visitors at no charge on this day. The name was derived from part of the title of the popular Anton Tomaž Linhart comedy This Merry Day or Matiček's Marriage.

A Poet of Imperishable Fame

France Prešeren was born on 3 December 1800 in Vrba in Gorenjska. February 8 is cultural holiday in Slovenia or the Prešeren Day. It is when we remember the works of this great poet that marked Slovenian culture. Dr France Prešeren is also the author of Slovenian National Anthem – A Toast.

He has had the exceptional significance for the history of the Slovenian nation and the majority of Slovenes comprehend the deep substantive dimension of aspirations for personal and national freedom.

Prešeren’s work

France Prešeren – poet, writer, thinker – won a position in Slovenian society more reminiscent of a natural phenomenon than of a person of flesh and blood. It is impossible to remove him from the collective Slovenian spirit, since he is practically one with this spirit. The presence of his name and image everywhere – on squares, streets, awards, bank notes, the theatre – is only a superficial manifestation of the poet’s influence.