Legendary hayrack to be restored

Built in 1795, Luka's toplar is a double hayrack, a type of wooden structure featuring a roof and intricate decorative elements used for storing and drying wheat, buckwheat, barley, clover, and corn.

It has been part of Slovenian architecture for centuries and remains one of the most recognisable features of folk architecture.

Luka's toplar has two pairs of windows and a "tail" (rear extension) in the shape of a single stretched hayrack with three windows. The oak pillars stand on stone platforms. It was partially renovated in 1970 and the thatched roof was replaced, the museum said.

It was built without iron nails, only wooden pegs. It is 6 metres wide, 9 metres long and 8.3 metres tall. In 2003, it was declared a cultural monument of local importance.

The museum is currently looking for the right type of wood. The restoration is necessary on the rear extension that was damaged during a thunderstorm.

The pillars will be made from oak and only traditional carpentry hand tools will be used. The roof construction and the new battens will be made from spruce.

As Luka's toplar is the only hayrack with a thatched roof in the open-air museum, they plan to replace the entire roof.

Conservator-restorer Dušan Štepec published in his work from 2011 that Luka's toplar is fifth oldest preserved toplar in Dolenjska region. The oldest is the Kos toplar in Grebenj that was built around 1751.