Mount Triglav

<p>Triglav — 'three heads' — rises to 2,864 metres at the heart of the Julian Alps and occupies a place in Slovenian identity that no other mountain in Europe quite matches. Its stylised outline is on the national flag and the coat of arms, and a well-worn tradition holds that every Slovene should stand on the summit at least once in their life. It was first climbed in 1778, and on the top stands the Aljaž Tower, a small metal turret erected in 1895 by the priest Jakob Aljaž, who bought the summit outright to secure it in Slovene hands.</p><p>No route up is a walk. Every approach — from the Vrata valley, from Pokljuka, from the Seven Lakes — is a serious two-day mountaineering outing with long secured sections of fixed cable across exposed rock, usually broken by a night in a mountain hut.</p>