Culture of Slovenia

Traditional clothing and headgear of folk group in Kranj
Praetorian Palace in the 19th century

Slovene culture is the culture of the Slovenes, a south Slavic ethnic group. It is incredibly diverse for the country's small size, spanning the southern portion of Central Europe, being the melting pot of Slavic, Germanic and Romance cultures while encompassing parts of the Eastern Alps, the Pannonian Basin, the Balkan Peninsula and the Mediterranean.

Throughout history, the territory of Slovenia has been home to a number of civilizations and its territory has been included in various European kingdoms and empires. Notably, Slovenia, alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, was a constituent of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia for the majority of the 20th century. Slovenia’s culture is expressed through its history, traditions, literature, mythology, music, dance, literature, cuisine, sports, arts, film, theatre, monuments and more. The country is also home to multiple UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Freising manuscripts comprised the first Latin-script continuous text in a Slavic language. Created in the late 10th century, it is also one of the oldest known Slovene documents.

The ancestors of Slovenes were Slavic inhabitants of the Slovenia and southern Austria, called Carantanians. They were the first Slavic people in history to form a principality, which was aptly named Carantania, and had an enduring cultural impact on the regions it encompassed.

Carantania was one of the first Slavic regions to be Christianized, and Slovenia’s national culture is deeply rooted in Christianity. While Roman Catholicism is the predominant Christian faith in Slovenia, the country is also home to sizeable Orthodox and Protestant communities.