Chapel of St. Vid

The Chapel of St Vid stands in the woods near Bukovniško jezero, a small lake in the north-east of Slovenia, close to the village of Kobilje in the Prekmurje region. Prekmurje is a flat, quiet land of fields, orchards and villages beside the Mura river, close to the borders with Hungary and Austria, and its low wooded hills near Kobilje are among the few places where the landscape rises a little. The chapel dates from the early nineteenth century, and local accounts place an earlier wooden chapel on the same spot. It is a small, simple building, whitewashed and plain, and it fits comfortably into the surrounding forest.

St Vid is the Slovene form of St Vitus, a saint whose feast falls in mid-June and who has long been honoured in the countryside of Central Europe. In rural Prekmurje, small chapels such as this were often built at springs, on hilltops or at crossroads, as places of prayer for the villagers, and processions and blessings of the fields were held there at certain times of the year. Here the chapel is linked in local tradition with a nearby spring, whose water people say has healing power, and visitors sometimes fill bottles from it. Whether or not one shares that belief, the quiet spot beside the water is a pleasant place to pause.

The surroundings are among the attractions. Bukovniško jezero is an artificial lake, created by damming a stream, and the area around it is a protected landscape of mixed woods, including chestnut and beech, with walking trails that connect the lake with Kobilje and the neighbouring villages. A number of leisure attractions have grown up around the lake, such as the Pustolovski Park, an adventure park with rope courses, and an Energijski Park, where signs and installations invite visitors to look for Energy Points, places that some believe have a calming effect, and Dragon lines, which are said to be a radiesthetic phenomenon. These ideas are matters of belief rather than science, but they add to the playful atmosphere of the place.

The area is also good for birds. White storks nest in the villages of Prekmurje, and the Stork Flight installation draws on that tradition, while the woods and the water attract other species. Walkers can combine the chapel, the lake and the paths in a short half-day circuit, and Vid's kut, a nearby corner of the woods, is another quiet stop. The chapel is usually open only for services or by arrangement, so most people enjoy it from outside.