The Slovenian government has decided to rename a section of the road between Kranjska Gora and the Vršič mountain pass the Russian Road to honour the memory of the more than 100 Russian prisoners who died at the mountain pass Vršič (NW) in the First World War.
Slovenia has taken this step to additionally mark the 90th anniversary of the construction of the Russian Chapel. The Chapel was erected in 1917 by surviving Russian prisoners in memory of their comrades who were buried by an avalanche while building a strategically important road over the mountain pass.
During WWI Kranjska Gora was an important crossroads, and the Vršič pass a vital connection to the Soča front. In 1915 and 1916 the Austrian army used more than 10,000 Russian prisoners for the construction of the road over the pass.
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