History

On the Pristava hillside, beneath Kostanjevica, Villa Palm was built towards the end of the 19th century, accompanied by a park planted with exotic species. The villa was destroyed during World War I, yet many exotic plants still thrive in the park today.

With the rapid development of the Goriška region in the late 19th century, establishing parks with exotic species next to private villas became a symbol of the owners’ economic success.

In 1907, the eastern part of the park was sold by the Palm family to the Gorizia-born architect Anton Laščak, who had worked for decades in Egypt as a royal court architect. Before World War I, he built a villa for his personal use in the neo-oriental style. He also carefully designed the park, which remains a remarkable example of garden architecture—highly modern for its time and unique in Europe.

In the early 20th century, the western part of the park came into the ownership of the Hribar family from Gorizia, who took care of it for decades. A few exceptional trees and other rare exotic plants that are seldom found in Slovenia have been preserved here.

The history of the former owners of Rafut Park still remains shrouded in mystery, but is slowly being uncovered.