Page 278 - Changing Living Spaces

Aleksander Panjek and Gregor Kovačič

All the zealous construction works that took place in Štanjel on the in-
itiative of Philipp von Cobenzl, i.e. the family tomb (1603) and especially
the renovation of the mansion (1607) and the finished construction of the
bell tower (1609), thus took place around the same time and partly at the
same time as the draining of the ‘Lake’ in Štanjel (1608).
In addition to the positive results of the works, several other circum-
stances support the possibility that the initiative originated within the
local community. Before draining and parcelling into individual shares,
the floodplain most likely had the status of collectively owned commu-
nal land, the use of which was regulated by the community of the tabor of
Štanjel. Therefore, it can be assumed that the local community had to at
least agree with the change of use, and the landlord (Cobenzl) also had to
agree with this change. The construction technique of the works carried
out indicates the use of the traditional Karst dry stone wall construction
method, which speaks for the involvement of local knowledge and labour.
However, it cannot be ruled out that more complex construction skills
were used, possibly by Master Fabian, who was simultaneously building
the new Štanjel bell tower.
To sum up, the draining of the intermittent flood lake benefited the
landlord and the community of Štanjel; the timing of the project coincid-
ed with the demonstrated initiative and zeal of Philipp von Cobenzl in
Štanjel; and the works must have been carried out in agreement and coop-
eration between the two sides. Whose idea it was originally, who designed
the regulatory system and technically managed the project are questions
that have remained unanswered so far.

Question About the Reasons for the Disintegration of the System:
Climate or Anthropogenic Environmental Changes?
Last but not least, we will address the question of what natural and envi-
ronmental factors influenced the outcome in terms of sustainability and
change. In order to form hypotheses about the decay of the system and
to assess their credibility, it would be useful to mention some other cases
and the wider circumstances. The ‘lake’ discussed so far was not the only
one of its kind in the Karst.
Near Štanjel there was another area where the water flooded the land.
The area is called ‘Dol Stočajnik’, which can be seen in figure 7 southwest
of ‘Jezero’ (‘Lake’). The larger Štanjel farms had cultivable land there; as
a document from 1606 or 1607 testifies, they were ‘now being created on
the communal land called Stočajnik’ (‘auf der gemain von neuen gemacht

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