Our work

We combine social and natural sciences and put them into practice in our work - in conservation, conservation restoration, preventive archaeology, research, development and promotion tasks. We combine knowledge and experience to ensure effective professional and legal protection of cultural heritage and its integration into modern life.

Mission and vision

We protect and preserve our country's cultural heritage, which tells the story of who we are and where we come from. We tell its stories, spreading the ideas and values it carries. We teach people how to live with their heritage, and how we can build new stories and a better future on understanding and respecting the remnants of the past.

 

Our motto is: preserving a shared past for a shared future.

 

Minorite Monastery, Maribor, Former church nave, now a multifunctional hall for cultural events. Photo Miran Kambič

Conservation

as an interdisciplinary discipline, it brings together all kinds of policies, strategies, regulatory, administrative and technical measures and tasks related to cultural heritage and its conservation.

Piran, lighthouse after renovation

Piran Lighthouse

The mysterious history of the buildings that make up the monument still hides many unsolved questions and riddles under its cloak, and in many details it is still wisely silent. The Piran Lighthouse remains an indispensable and picturesque finishing touch to the Piranese skyline at the tip of the Piranese promontory.

Renaissance portal restored and vaulted ceilings preserved_Photosjpg

Mestni trg 27 and Ciril-Metodov trg 21

The renovation combined the preservation of historic elements and upgrading with 21st century solutions. The basic guiding principle was to improve and approximate to the original design and to build on the comprehensive renovation of the 1960s under the direction of the Institute for the Redevelopment of Old Ljubljana.

Renovation of the Gravisi Tiepolo Palace in Koper

Gravisi Tiepolo Palace

In 2023, the complete renovation of the Gravisi Tiepolo Palace was completed. Kreljeva 6 (Koper) was named after its owners as the Gravisi Tiepolo Palace, the Baseggio Palace and also as the Fighting House. The last name is most likely derived from the activity, as only oral sources can link the palace to the sabre practice hall.

Solina today, photo by Matjaž Kljun, 2022, ZVKDS OE Piran

The salterns through time

Due to all the recognised and declared heritage values, the cultural heritage of the Piran salterns must be preserved for future generations.

Rafut Park

Park of Villa Rafut

All the built elements in the park and the preserved park furniture are made of concrete and designed in accordance with the architectural style of the villa, i.e. in the Neo-Romanesque style. Concrete is a material used for the first time in this monumental complex in the area in a prefabricated form. The positioning of the park, the buildings and the park furnishings in the space shows the architect's thoughtful approach, with a clear idea of the integration of the garden and the villa into a whole.

Rog factory

In the renovated Rog factory, the industrial process will continue with production activities in nine production laboratories on the ground floor, such as textile, wood, metal, green, ceramics, glass and others.

Žiče Carthusiast Church, movable roof

Žiče Carthusian

The Žička Carthusian Monastery is an exceptional monument of monastic architecture that transcends the Slovenian landscape. Its architectural fabric preserves all the main stylistic periods of European art.

Rotunda of St. Elijah, Koper, after renovation, photo by Marko Pršina

Rotunda of St Elijah

In 2024, the renovation of the former baptistery will be completed with the presentation of the interior and will thus be included in the ceremonies that will take place on the occasion of the 1500th anniversary of the Diocese of Koper.

Presentation of the renovation of Tabor I Primary School in Maribor, main façade after renovation Sept. 2023

Renovation of Tabor Primary School I

The renovation project is a successful example of energy renovation of a damaged and dilapidated structural modernist architecture from the late 1970s.

Conservation
Piran Lighthouse
Mestni trg 27 and Ciril-Metodov trg 21
Gravisi Tiepolo Palace
The salterns through time
Park of Villa Rafut
Rog factory
Žiče Carthusian
Rotunda of St Elijah
Renovation of Tabor Primary School I
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Conservation Restoration

covers a range of activities directly carried out on heritage sites in order to facilitate their enjoyment, understanding and use. Activities are carried out in cases where the value or function of the cultural heritage has been lost due to past alterations or deterioration. Restoration activities are based on respect for the original material and the historical context.

Original (background) and new copy, National Museum of Ljubljana.
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The Sign of Mary

In 2024, the Department of Stone and Stucco of the ZVKDS Restoration Centre completed the comprehensive restoration of the Marian Marian Sign from Radlje ob Dravi, which began with the preparation of a conservation plan in 2018 and continued with surveys and dismantling in 2020.

The Epiphany in a new guise
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Mary with the Child on the throne and the six saints

In January 2019, when a skilled technical team removed the painting from the wall of the Cathedral of Koper, our team began a period of daily procedures, from removing non-original layers, puttying and retouching to the final varnishing of the painting. Author's rage

Vittore Carpaccio, Mary with the Child on the Throne and the Six Saints
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Kremser Schmidt painting

Between 2018 and 2022, a very large and technically demanding project was carried out on the ceiling painting at the top of the staircase of the Gruber Palace.

Ceiling painting in Gruber Palace, Ljubljana, detail
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Vittorio Carpaccio's organ paintings

The painting technology in Vittore's organ paintings is very different from the series of paintings kept by the Academy in Venice. They are painted in thinner layers of colour and the texture of the canvas is more pronounced. Vittore must have been aware of the fact that the paintings would be a rich visual decoration of a musical instrument, and he adapted his technique accordingly.

Vittore Carpaccio, painting after conservation and restoration work.
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Zgrafito by Maks Kavčič

Rescuing a piece of artwork by painter Maks Kavčič - a graffito from the former Trbovlje Machine Factory

Gluing a fragment to a new carrier
Conservation Restoration
The Sign of Mary
Mary with the Child on the throne and the six saints
Kremser Schmidt painting
Vittorio Carpaccio's organ paintings
Zgrafito by Maks Kavčič
Archaeological site of SNG Drama

Preventive archaeology

is the concept of protecting archaeological heritage in space. The aim is to document and protect as far as possible the archaeological heritage as an object, site and part of space through non-invasive and minimally invasive research.

Servite Monastery, Koper

Servite Monastery

The Servite Monastery is the only monument of national importance in the historic centre of Koper. Since 2010, the University of Primorska has taken over the management of the building, and in 2020 it has started a thorough renovation, which is being carried out hand in hand with the archaeologists of the CPA ZVKDS.

A Roman lamp-lamp, fully preserved with traces of burning. There is a decoration of pine twigs around the edges of the disc. It was found in the ruins of a hypocaust in an excavation field along Slovenska cesta. Ointments were an economical and eye-catching object of wide consumption. Their motifs were also part of imperial propaganda. The burning end of the wick was lit, looking out of the oljenka through a hole, fed by olive oil (photo: Tilen Kozamernik).

SNG Drama, 2023/2024

The preliminary protective excavations of the SNG Drama in the eminent area of the city of Emone, north of the Forum, have provided us with remarkable information about the Roman built heritage and the life of our ancestors.

The two barrier walls in the hinterland of the Trnovo hillfort above Ilirska Bistrica; the outer one running between Sv. Ahac (left) and behind Stražica (above) and the inner one running through Stražica.

The Prison Wall and the ancient cultural landscape between Sv. Ahac and Stražica

Verifying mentions and reports of the border wall running along the western Snežniška plateau between the sites of St. Ahac and Stražica near Ilirska Bistrica, we have been through the analysis of airborne laser scanning images, we identified the remains of an old, probably, judging by the shape analogies prehistoric, land divisions and cultural landscapes which in the vicinity of the Trnovo hillfort above Ilirska Bistrica.

Preventive archaeology
Servite Monastery
SNG Drama, 2023/2024
The Prison Wall and the ancient cultural landscape between Sv. Ahac and Stražica
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Development and research

The IPCHS is an active member of a number of international institutions and associations. Together with our partners, we organise and carry out various international development tasks, organise educational and promotional programmes, and participate in numerous domestic and international projects. We pay particular attention to scientific research activities.

Gruber Palace., Research
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E-RIHS in IPERION HS

Excellent international cooperation has led the Research Institute (RI) to partner in the E-RHIS project. The European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science ( www.e-rihs.eu ) was already included in the priority list of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures ("ESFRI Roadmap") with an excellent rating in 2016 and E-RIHS was included among the international priority projects in the field of research infrastructures. In the framework of the IPERION HS project, we have provided access to research to five projects.

E-RIHS and IPERION
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European Heritage Days

European Heritage Days, as the name suggests, are a joint action of many European countries under the auspices of the Council of Europe and the European Commission. Almost every year, a new community joins the ranks of participants, and each year the organisers choose a different theme to showcase Europe's cultural heritage to the local public, Europeans and the world.

EHD 2024
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InnoRenew CoE

The basic idea of InnoRenew is to develop and operate a new InnoRenew CoE, dedicated to carrying out cutting-edge scientific research in the field of renewable materials.

Primeri dobrih praks

CHARTER

The role of the ZVKDS Restoration Centre in the project: Analysis of the regional situation in the strategic analysis of cultural heritage competences and professional profiles at EU level, elaboration of professional standards, participation in the dissemination of the project, improve the role of Slovenian cultural heritage at international level, organising an international workshop in the framework of WP2 and WP3.

CHARTER
Development and research
E-RIHS in IPERION HS
European Heritage Days
InnoRenew CoE
CHARTER

NEWS

Interested in cultural heritage, its protection and preservation? Read our news, subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on social media.

Invitation to an expert conference on the rehabilitation of cultural heritage buildings
9. 4. 2025

Invitation to an expert conference on the rehabilitation of cultural heritage buildings

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Invitation to a presentation on the restoration of the monastery church, Franciscan Monastery Kostanjevica in Nova Gorica
2. 4. 2025

Invitation to a presentation on the restoration of the monastery church, Franciscan Monastery Kostanjevica in Nova Gorica

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Work on the wall painting of St. Sunday, on the facade of the church of St. Elizabeth in Podrebra near Polhov Gradec
31. 3. 2025

Work on the wall painting of St. Sunday, on the facade of the church of St. Elizabeth in Podrebra near Polhov Gradec

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