Legend of the Sunken Bell

© Miro Zalokar

On Christmas afternoon, December 25, one of the most beautiful legends of Bled, the famous legend of the wishing bell, will be re-enacted on the surface of Lake Bled by the Castle Bathing Area. This legend, which has been making wishes come true for hundreds of years on Bled Island, will come to life with the cooperation of the divers from the Bled Society for Underwater Activities.

Once upon a time, there lived a young widow in the castle of Bled. Her husband was killed by robbers, and his body was thrown into the lake. She was so inconsolable that she gathered all her gold and silver and had a bell cast for the chapel on the island, in memory of her husband. But the bell never arrived there. The bell, the boat, and the boatmen sank during a terrible storm. After this accident, the desperate widow sold all her property and offered the proceeds for the construction of a new church on the island. She then left Bled and lived the rest of her life in Rome as a nun. After her death, the Pope heard of her misfortune and of her good deeds during her life as a nun. In her memory, he decided to make a new bell. He declared that anyone who rings the bell three times and believes in God will have their wish come true. Even today, sometimes on a dark night, you can hear the sunken bell ringing from the depths of the lake.