The memorial chapel to the fallen in World War I at Dolenji Logatec was inaugurated in 1928, on the tenth anniversary of the end of World War I. It is interesting that some people continue to call it the Chapel of St. Joseph, while others call it the Memorial Chapel to the Fallen in World War I, but the central inscription inside it reads: In lasting memory to the relatives of the victims of World War 1914–1918.
The original chapel of St. Joseph was erected in 1922 by Jožef Lapuh, a sales assistant at the Brus store, in memory of the victims of Doberdò. In 1926, Mayor Gabrijel Oblak decided to turn it into a memorial chapel dedicated to those who died in World War I. He commissioned the conversion to architect Jože Plečnik. However, the latter entrusted the drawing of the plan to his student, Mayor Oblak’s younger brother Ciril. Two years later, a long arcaded portico was added to the chapel, which bears a strong stamp of mentor Plečnik. Ciril Oblak did not live to see the completion of the chapel, as he fell ill on a students’ trip to the sea and died within a week, aged only 23. To his memory, there is an inscription inside the chapel, in the centre to the left: “As his last work and a tombstone for himself, Cand. arch. Ciril Oblak made this plan / Died during the construction / In the prime of his youth”.
Inside the chapel there is a statue of St. Joseph with Infant Jesus. On the walls are boards with the names of victims. There are stained glass windows, window recesses and the two pilasters are decorated with stencil floral decoration, on the ceiling is a fresco of the Holy Family on a cloud, probably a work by Simon Ogrin. In 2013, the chapel was renovated; reconstructed was also the drinking fountain at the beginning of the portico, consisting of a pedestal with the inscription Do not forget!, a copper tap in the shape of a head and a bowl-shaped trough. Reconstructed after the original design was also a brass chandelier.
In the centre of Logatec, turn from Tržaška street to Notranjska street. The Memorial Chapel is 125 metres away. On the right side of the street is the parking lot of the Logatec Health Centre.
On the motorway, take the Logatec exit and drive to the first roundabout, leave it at the first exit on the right. Continue along Notranjska street. After 540 metres, at the road fork (Notranjska cesta, Cankarjeva cesta and Šolska pot) you catch a sight of the Memorial Chapel on your right. To the left of Notranjska street there is the parking lot of the Logatec Health Centre.
Nearest house: Cankarjeva cesta 18, Logatec.
Občina Logatec
(Municipality of Logatec)
Tržaška cesta 50a
SI–1370 Logatec
+386 1 7590 600
obcina.logatec@logatec.si
logatec.si
