Zale

Zale Central cemetery  often abbreviated to Zale, is the largest and the central cemetery in Ljubljana. It is located in the Bezigrad district and operated by the Zale Public Company.

The cemetery was built in 1906 around the Holy Cross Church. The first burial was performed in the same year on May 3, when the priest Martin Malenšek was transferred there from the old Navje cemetery.

During World War I, many of the fallen soldiers of all sides were buried in Zale. However, they were all Roman Catholics, while Protestants, Jews and Muslims were buried in Navje. In 1923 the authorities allowed Jews and Muslims to be buried in Zale too, but only on the exterior side of the cemetery wall.

In 1931 the new part of the cemetery (B part) opened. The Italian military cemetery was arranged there and many Italian soldiers were reburied from the A part. In the same year the Jewish part of the cemetery was arranged too, however it was separated from the main part by a fence. In 1939 the Ossuary of the victims of World War I was built, where 5258 of the victims of this war as well as of the associated conflicts were later buried.