The Russian Road Near The Russian Chapel On The Vrsic Pass, First World War Memorial In The Slovenian Alps, Europe Royalty-Free Stock Photo

The Russian Chapel on the Vrsic Pass is a Russian Orthodox chapel located on the Russian Road on the northern side of the Vrsic Pass in northwestern Slovenia. The chapel, dedicated to Saint Vladimir, was built by Russian prisoners of war engaged in forced labor in the area during World War I. It serves as both a war memorial and a symbolic link between Slovenia and Russia. To facilitate access from Kranjska Gora town to the front, the Austro-Hungarian authorities ordered the construction of a military road across the Vrsic Pass, a 1,611-meter pass between the Sava and Soca Valleys, to be built by Russian prisoners of war. The Russian camp was located roughly halfway up the slope of Vrsic. Until November 1916, the remaining prisoners built a small wooden memorial chapel. The building is of typical Russian design, with two small towers on either side of the nave, and is surrounded by prisoners' graves and a pyramid-shaped memorial marker to the immediate right of the chapel, with the Cyrillic inscription reading "To the sons of Russia".