There is evidence that man has been present on the Big Pasture Plateau since prehistoric times.[citation needed] In Medieval times the plateau was used for pasturing.[citation needed] The oldest huts, which date from the 16th century, are nearly identical to the present Preskar Hut (Slovene: Preskarjeva bajta).[citation needed] The hut is oval, covered from roof to ground with shingles, without windows, doors, or a chimney.

In the winter of 1931–1932 a new form of tourism began, known as bajtarstvo, which involved renting the huts in the winter when there was no pasturing. During the Second World War, German forces and the Slovene Home Guard burned all of the huts to the ground.[citation needed] The chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Snows, built in 1938 by the Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik, was also burned, but it was rebuilt in 1988.[citation needed]