Hrastnik is a town and a municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in central Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria

Lower Styria

Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...

 region. The entire municipality is now included in the Central Sava statistical region

Zasavska statistical region

The Central Sava statistical region is a statistical region in Slovenia. It lies in Central Slovenia, mostly to the north of the Sava River, encompassing mostly territory that was part of the Central Sava Valley area of the traditional regions of Upper Carniola and Lower Styria.The largest town in...

. Located in the valley of a minor left bank tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Sava River, the area is known for its rich deposits of coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

. Coal mining began in the area in 1804. In 1849 the town was connected to the Austrian Southern Railway

Austrian Southern Railway

The Austrian Southern Railway was an Austrian railway company established in 1841...

 and this enabled its further development. Hrastnik is also known for glass

Glass

Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...

 manufacturing. It is surrounded by the Mount Kum (1220 m), Mount Mrzlica (1122 m), and Kopitnik Hill (910 m). The area around Kopitnik is protected as a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

. Species such as the capercaillie

Capercaillie

The Western Capercaillie , also known as the Wood Grouse, Heather Cock or Capercaillie , is the largest member of the grouse family, reaching over 100 cm in length and 6.7 kg in weight. The largest one ever recorded in captivity had a weight of 7.2 kg....

 and chamois

Chamois

The chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra, is a goat-antelope species native to mountains in Europe, including the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, the European Alps, the Tatra Mountains, the Balkans, parts of Turkey, and the Caucasus. The chamois has also been introduced to the South Island of New Zealand...

 run wild in the surrounding forests. The town has its own library

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

 and school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

. In the past the majority of locals were employed in the glass, coal, or chemical industry. Today the glass and chemicals factories still operate, but many people also go to work in neighbouring towns like Trbovlje or Zagorje ob Savi.

The parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 in the settlement is dedicated to Christ the King

Christ the King

Christ the King is a title of Jesus based on several passages of Scripture. It is used by most Christians. The Roman Catholic Church, together with many Protestant denominations, including the Anglican Churches, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Methodists, celebrate the Feast of Christ the King on the...

 and belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje

Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje ; is a diocese located in the city of Celje in the Ecclesiastical province of Maribor in Slovenia.-Leadership:* Bishops of Celje ** Anton Stres...

. It was built in 1936. A second church in the south of the settlement, belonging to the same parish, is dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and early to mid 13th centuries...

. It dates to the 16th century with major 17th-century adaptations.

External links

• Hrastnik municipal site (in Slovene)
• Hrastnik at Geopedia
• Rudnik Trbovlje-Hrastnik, coal mine (in Slovene)
• Hrastnik Glass Factory site