On 13 May 2026, the Ljudska univerza Ajdovščina organised a pilot visit as part of the BEroots project – Between Rivers and Lagoons: Artistic Routes. Pupils from the 4th and 5th grades of the Peter Butkovič - Domen Primary School from Savogna d'Isonzo, Italy, visited the Zdravljica House in Podnanos.
The visit began at the Zdravljica House, which was restored and arranged as part of the BEroots project. The pupils explored the origins of Prešeren's Zdravljica and its special connection to the Vipava Valley. A key role in the creation of the poem was played by the priest Matija Vertovec, who spent his entire life working in the Vipava region and died in Podnanos. He was a polyglot, a passionate researcher and writer, whose primary interest was viticulture and winemaking. In 1843, he published a contribution entitled Vinske terte hvala (In Praise of the Vine) in the periodical Kmetijske in rokodelske novice, in which he publicly called upon the poet France Prešeren to compose a hymn to the vine. Prešeren wrote the Zdravljica the following year, and its seventh verse is today the Slovenian national anthem.
The Zdravljica was set to music by Stanko Premrl, who was born in Podnanos. He composed it in 1905 while studying at the Vienna Conservatory, during a holiday in his home region. According to his own account, the melody came to him at Lozice. He completed the composition in Vienna and published it in the music journal Novi akordi. Premrl's melody, paired with the seventh staverse of Prešeren's poem, was chosen as the Slovenian national anthem. Premrl was an exceptionally prolific composer, leaving behind an opus of over 2,000 musical works.
The visit continued with a tour of Podnanos, where the pupils learned about the architectural features of the village and its historical background, inextricably intertwined with the stories of Vertovec and Premrl.
The route also took us to Vipava, where we visited the Baroque Lanthieri Manor, built by the Lanthieri counts in 1659 and today listed as a national cultural monument. Near the manor, we observed the springs of the Vipava River and explored the history of the town and the geographical characteristics of the Vipava Valley.
The visit was led by Jana Kete, a professional tourist guide.
