The town was first attested in written sources asUeldes in 1004 (and asVeldes in 1011).[4][5] The etymology of the name is unknown and it is believed to be of pre-Slavic origin. The German name of the town,Veldes, was either borrowed from Old Slovene*Beldъ before AD 800 or is derived from the same pre-Slavic source as the Slovene name.[5][6]
A number of rises (Grad 599 m, Straža 646 m, Kozarca 558 m, Osojnica 756 m, and Ravnica 729 m) separate the localities of Bled around the lake, the former villages of Grad,Mlino,Rečica,Zagorice, andŽeleče.
The lake is 2.12 kilometres (1.32 mi) long and 0.5 to 1 kilometre (0.31 to 0.62 mi) wide. In summer, the surface water reaches 25 °C (77 °F) and retains a temperature up to 18 °C (64 °F) until autumn. As such, it is suitable for swimming. During colder winters, the entire lake freezes and can be used for ice skating; the island can then be reached on foot.
There is a thermal spring (23 °C or 73 °F) near the lake, next to the Bled Fault. Its water is used in indoor pools in two hotels.
German KingHenry II ceded ownership of the area in 1004 to Albuin,Bishop of Brixen as a sign of gratitude for the assistance the Church was giving to the king in his attempt to strengthen imperial rule in that part of northern Italy. In 1011, Henry II signed another deed of donation that added the castle and an area of land the size of thirty king's farms. That area, between the Sava Bohinjka and the Sava Dolinka, became known as the Lordship of Veldes (German:Herrschaft Veldes). These donations marked a turning point in the history of Bled and, for the following 800 years, the area remained under the sovereignty of the prince-bishops of Brixen.
The bishops very seldom visited their remote possession 300 km away. Initially, the lordship was administered byministeriales (bonded knights), castellans, and castle staff in accordance with feudal practices, but in the middle of the 14th century the prince-bishops decided instead to lease the estate. Under one of the 16th-century lessees, Bled Castle became a Protestant stronghold for a time. When the leasehold era came to an end, the prince-bishops began to appoint governors to manage their distant lordship. Until the middle of the 18th century, those administrators were exclusively aristocratic, but later they included non-nobles.
In 1803, Brixen's rule came to an end when the prince-bishopric was secularized in the course of theGerman Mediatization. Bled then came under Austrian sovereignty but in 1808, along with Carniola, it was included in the NapoleonicIllyrian Provinces. It returned under Austrian sovereignty in 1813, and in 1838 the Austrian Emperor returned Bled to the bishops of Brixen as a private estate. With the abolition of the feudal system in 1848, Bled ceased to have the characteristics of a feudal economy and from then on it experienced several changes in ownership, including industrialists and a bank.[7][8]
After the dissolution ofAustria-Hungary in 1918, Bled and the rest of Carniola came under the rule of theKingdom of Yugoslavia and became a summer domicile of the rulingHouse of Karađorđević, a tradition that Yugoslav leaderJosip Broz Tito continued when he built his residence here in 1947.
Today's town began to form in the mid-19th century from the villages of Grad, Mlino, Rečica, Zagorice, and Želeče, which encircled the lake. At that time, farmers started to sell the land along the eastern lakeshore to wealthy individuals for their villas, and the villages of Grad, Zagorice, and Želeče began to merge. Bled was officially made a town in 1960.
Bled hotels in 1910BledCremeschnitteBelow theBled Castle cliffs sits a public pool area on the lake.
Bled is known for theglacialLake Bled, which makes it a major tourist attraction. Perched on a rock overlooking the lake is the iconicBled Castle. The town is also known in Slovenia for itsvanilla and cream pastry (Slovene:kremšnita, kremna rezina).
NaturopathArnold Rikli (1823–1906) fromSwitzerland contributed significantly to the development of Bled as ahealth resort in the second half of the 19th century. Due to its mild climate, Bled has been visited by aristocratic guests from all across the world. Today it is an important convention centre and tourist resort, offering a wide range of sports activities (golf,fishing, andhorseback riding). It is a starting point formountain treks andhikes, especially within nearbyTriglav National Park.
A small island in the middle of the lake is home to theAssumption of MaryPilgrimage Church; visitors frequently ring its bell, due to an old legend claiming it provides good luck.
Human traces fromprehistory have been found on the island. Before the church was built, there was a temple consecrated toŽiva, the Slavic goddess of love and fertility. One can get to the island on a traditional flat-bottomed wooden boat (Slovene:pletna), part of a fixed fleet of 23 boats to protect the lake's cleanliness, run by a family-owned business since the 18th century. The island onLake Bled has 99 steps. A local tradition at weddings is for the husband to carry his new bride up these steps, during which the bride must remain silent.
In 1959, the first 14 rounds of the 4th Chess Candidates Tournament were held in this city, the rest were played in Zagreb and in Belgrade.
In 1961, theGrand Hotel Toplice in Bled was the site of one of the most important international tournaments in chess history. In 2002, the35th Chess Olympiad was held in the city.
Bled hosts one of the largestLindy Hop events, known as "Swing Bled".[10]
^Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru, vol. 6:Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146.
^de Luca, Ignaz. 1790.Geographisches Handbuch von dem östreichischen Staate, vol 2. Vienna: Johann Paul Krauß, p. 137.
^"Bled".Slovenska historična topografija. ZRC SAZU Zgodovinski inštitut Milka Kosa.Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. RetrievedFebruary 15, 2021.
^abSnoj, Marko (2009).Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen. Ljubljana: Modrijan. p. 65.
^Bezlaj, France (ed.). 1977.Etimološki slovar slovenskega jezika, vol. 1, A–J. Ljubljana: SAZU, p. 26.
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