On Breg by the Kandija Bridge, the Župančič Promenade begins at the end of Pugljeva Street and ends at the Bršljin Stream. The riverside path along the Krka is one of the most popular routes for the people of Novo mesto and also attracts visitors. Since 1995, it has been named after the poet and dramatist Oton Župančič.
Along the path are wooden benches engraved with Župančič’s verses, bringing a touch of the town’s cultural spirit closer to the walker. Along this riverside walkway you will also find a memorial dedicated to the inventor of the Slovenian trail blaze, Alojz Knafelc, who was born in Novo mesto. A little further on, two footbridges – Julija’s Footbrudge and the Loka footbridge – cross the river, both intended for pedestrians and cyclists.
In 1941, during the Second World War, when Novo mesto was under Italian rule, a barbed-wire fence ran along the terrace of the promenade.
Oton Župančič was born on January 23, 1878, in Vinica to mother Ana Malič and father Franc Zupančič, originally from Selišče near Dolenjske Toplice. When Oton was two years old, the family moved to Dragatuš, where his father opened a shop and an inn. The poet attended the first two grades of primary school in Dragatuš, and the next two grades plus three years of secondary school in Novo mesto. During these years he was already writing and publishing his first poems. Together with Franc Derganc and Milan Pugelj, he published the handwritten student paper Na Prelji, illustrated by their classmate Ivan Vavpotič. Meanwhile, due to poor financial circumstances, his family moved to Ljubljana.