From Celeia to Celje – Șerban Ecaterina
Friday was a rainy day, yet our colourful umbrellas were painting the view. After a nice walk from school, we arrived at the gates of the so-called ‘ancient city’.
In the midst of the dark and coldness of the old walls, a warm voice welcomed us. Our guide was a lady called Gabriela Gocci, a woman who loved history, myths and especially her town. Out of passion, she became a historian in order to share with people like us the beauty of Celeia.
During our visit, our breath was taken away by the beauty of the well-preserved ruins. We were already lucky enough to get a look at Marble bride, the remains of the Counts of Celje and the noble dynasty armour, however, at the end of our tour we were shown the famous Heraldic Plague dated back to 1466.
One thing I learned for sure during our trip is how powerful words are and how they are never randomly chosen. The ‘LOVE’ from Slovenia stands for the lovely people and for the love they carry for one another and the country. Furthermore, Celeia is a derivation from the latin word Caelia which means ‘heavenly’. The dwellers strongly believe that our past is what keeps us connected to the divinity.
When asked why it is so important to remember the past, Gabriela (the tour guide) replied: ‘as scary as it may be, sometimes it is comfortable to look in the future […] because it looks as you want, while the past stays the same. It reminds us that life it’s progressive, we are not just born with rights and benefits, but someone fought in order for us to have them now. […] It’s a signal that we need to do the same for future generations.’
 |
 |
 |