Lake Bled

Lake Bled formed after the retreat of the Bohinj glacier some 14,000 years ago, when the glacial basin filled with water. The tectonic island in the middle — Slovenia’s only true island — was settled in prehistory, and archaeological finds testify to an early Slavic shrine of the goddess Živa on the site of today’s church.

The first church on the island rose in the 9th century; the present Baroque Church of the Assumption with its 54-metre bell tower dates from the 17th. The famous wishing bell was cast in 1534 by Franciscus Patavinus of Padua, and the legend of the widow Poliksena, whose first bell sank in the lake, gave the island the romantic soul that draws couples from around the world.

Bled’s tourist boom began with the Swiss physician Arnold Rikli, who founded a health resort by the lake in 1855 and made it famous as a climatic retreat. Today the lake, with its 99 steps to the island church, traditional pletna boats and castle silhouette, is Slovenia’s most recognisable postcard.