Photos

The kozolec (hayrack) is a free standing, permanent, mainly wooden, vertical, open but roofed device for drying and storing the goods, hay and grain. It is the only ethnical architecture I know. It exists exclusively in ethnical territory of Slovenian nation.

The use of the hayrack: at first, it was used for storing grain (food for the people), and later, for storing fodder (for animals only). Today, due to the introduction of cheaper technology, it is only a remnant of former times.

The form of the hayrack depends on its function. On steep slopes hayracks are single stretched ones, with supports, if necessary. They can be found on plains, too, where they consist of many "windows". Further away from homes and in places where it often rains, they have a projecting roof attached to one "window" for the protection of carts and people from sudden downpours. Double stretched hayracks are built when windy conditions create a need for additional stability. Their main function is storage and they are generally more useful than the single stretched ones. There are two types of double linked hayracks: one can be found to the north of the Sava river, and the other to the south of it. They differ only in the proportions and in the size of their fronts.


Hope you like it and thanks for looking :)

*Denis