About us
The Association of Historic Towns of Slovenia was established on the initiative of the mayors of Idria, Koper, Piran, Ptuj, Škofja Loka and Tržič at a ceremonial meeting in Ptuj on 21st June 2001.
In the introduction of the treaty on the establishment and operation of the Association of Historic Cities of Slovenia it was written that the Association was being established as it had been found that municipalities have in their area old town centres that are declared cultural monuments. Also included are companies and organisations that are involved in the renovation of old town centres and cultural heritage whose aim is to searching for ways and possibilities of implementing renovations. These cover the preservation and revitalisation of old town centres, the development of a joint marketing strategy in order to raise awareness that historic cities are an art treasure and tourist attraction, and recognition that the preservation of cultural heritage enables economic and social development. The over-riding aim is to involve the Asssociation in the European Association of Historic Towns and Regions.

The Association of Historic Cities of Slovenia was established just a few months after the establishment of the European Association of Historical Towns and Regions. This speaks of the great will and vision and the simultaneous awareness of the mayors and municipal management that, only through the uniting and joint work and the exchange of the good and less good experiences of municipalities and historic cities with similar problems, challenges and ideas, can it lead to more successful work, better solutions and thus the development of our historic towns.
In the 15 years since the establishment of the Association of Historic Towns of Slovenia, the towns of Kamnik, Kranj, Kostanjevica na Krki, Metlika, Novo mesto, Radovljica, Slovenske Konjice and Žužemberk have joined. This indicates that the work of the Association has been heard, is a resounding success and, above all, is successful. The Association proudly welcomes each new member since, the more of us there are, the further word will spread and our work can be even more successful to the benefit of the members of the Association as well as the towns’ inhabitants.
Thus, after 15 years of voluntary activities, the Association of Historic Towns was recently given the opportunity to professionalise, as had already been foreseen at the time of its establishment in 2001, and was thus also included in the treaty of the establishment and operation of the Association.


Planned activities for the 2016-2020 period
An additional motivation for taking this route was the significantly increased extent of workload in the current year and the foreseen and planned activities and projects that the Association plans for the financial perspective of the 2016-2020 period, namely:
- In the recent period the Association has been actively co-operating with state agencies and institutions (Ministry of Culture, Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Institute for the Protection of Culture Heritage of Slovenia, Slovenian Tourist Board, …) in seeking systemic solutions that relate to the work and life in historic towns
- On the initiative of the Slovenian Tourist Board, it is taking over partnership and management of the ‘Towns and Culture’ product, one of the seven key products of Slovenian tourism, which is great recognition for the working of the Association
- In the new programme period the Association of Historic Towns of Slovenia has set a target to prepare projects and acquire funding for programmes and content which is related to the revitalisation of historic towns
- The Association has already succeeded in acquiring funding through the EU Creative Europe tender; the Interreg Slovenia-Austria co-operation project has already been delivered and the Interreg Slovenia-Croatia project is in the process of being prepared, which in the future will also lead to increased responsibility
- In recent times the number of members of the Association of Historic Towns of Slovenia has increased, and in future it is foreseen that a further three to four towns will join. From an economic perspective this means increased activities and responsibilities whilst at the same time decreased financial obligations for members of the Association