Slovenske Konjice
Encyclopedia
Slovenske Konjice is a town and a municipality
in northeastern Slovenia
. The area was part of the traditional region of Lower Styria
.
. It is the administrative and cultural centre of the Dravinja
Valley. The municipality borders on the municipalities of Šmarje pri Jelšah
and Šentjur pri Celju
to the south, Vojnik
to the west, Zreče
to the northwest, Oplotnica
to the north, Slovenska Bistrica
to the east, and Rogaška Slatina
to the southeast. It spreads over 97.8 square kilometers and has a population of 13.600. About hundred kilometers from Ljubljana
, Graz
or Zagreb
it is easily reachable by A1 motorway
nicknamed Slovenika and via the little airport near Loče
.
with later additions, that was abandoned in the 18th century. Immediately above the Old square the medieval Trebnik Mansion
stands. The 850-years old dense town line is a sloping square, from Trebnik manor past the St. George parish church, along small stream
in an open channel, down to the Dravinja
river. The new square (Mestni trg) is situated on the other bank of the river, connected with old square by "horse bridge".
The parish church
is dedicated to Saint George
and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor. It dates to the late 13th century with 18th century additions (side baroque chapel). Town was mentioned in written sources dating to 1165 as a seminal parish
. The castle is first mentioned in 1148 and the market town
in 1236. The town itself was not surrounded by walls. At the times of Ottoman raids
the church with the vicarage served as a fortified refuge. A second church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Anne
. It dates to the mid 16th century with a 17th century belfry
and Baroque
additions.
The main street and the transversal connections above the Dravinja are lined with longitudinal or transversally positioned one-storey secular houses with well preserved Gothic cores and Renaissance additions. The facades were restyled in the 19th century (Biedermeier
, Historicism
). A rarity is the Art Nouveau
building of the savings bank. A Marian column
near the church dating to the mid 18th century and a columnar shrine dedicated to Saint Florian
above the stream (the author of both is Franc Zamlik, 1750) dominate the open square. The town core is well preserved, with no aggressive breakthroughs of the roofs and diverse concepts inside the condensed nucleus.
Konjice played its part during the Slovenian peasant revolt of 1515, with rebels here composing a letter with their demands to send to the emperor
in Vienna
. Economic development was boosted after construction of main Vienna
to Trieste
road in the 18th century. During the 19th century the town got a local court. The Austrian Southern Railway
was built in 1846, but it ran 15 km east of Konjice. On 20 June 1892 works started on a narrow gauge
(760 mm) steam railroad
line called Konjičanka from Poljčane
to Slovenske Konjice, which was opened on 20 December 1892. On 29 June 1921 it was extended to Zreče
. It was closed in 1963, and the tracks were removed in 1970. A Museum locomotive K.3 (Gonobitz), build by Krauss factory at Linz
, that was used on this railway is on display at the Slovenian Railway Museum
in Ljubljana
.
"Konjice" got the adjective
"Slovenske" in the 1918, during Kingdom of Yugoslavia
, in order not to be confused with the town of Konjic
in Bosnia and Herzegovina
.
The Škalce and Konjiška gora areas are interlaced with numerous trails that local people enjoy using for Sunday walks. Slovenske Konjice's sights.
Town is rewarded for its efforts with national "Most Beautiful Excursion Destination" award by Tourist Association of Slovenia for many years in row.
:
Slovene
:
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 northeastern 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...
. The area was part of the traditional region of 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...
.
Slovenske Konjice municipality
The municipality is now included in the Savinja statistical regionSavinjska statistical region
The Savinja statistical region is a statistical region in Slovenia. The largest town in the region is Celje. It is named after the Savinja River....
. It is the administrative and cultural centre of the Dravinja
Dravinja
The Dravinja River is the largest tributary of the Drava River in Slovenia. It is long. Its source is on the Pohorje Massif southwest of Mount Rogla about 1,150 m above sea level. The river passes Zreče, the town of Slovenske Konjice, the ruins of the fort at Zbelovo, Poljčane, Makole, Štatenberg...
Valley. The municipality borders on the municipalities of Šmarje pri Jelšah
Šmarje pri Jelšah
Šmarje pri Jelšah is a town and a municipality in eastern Slovenia. The area was part of the traditional region of Lower Styria. The municipality is now included in the Savinja statistical region...
and Šentjur pri Celju
Šentjur pri Celju
Šentjur a town and a municipality in eastern Slovenia. With an area of 223 km2 it is one of the larger municipalities in Slovenia. The town lies on the river Voglajna to the east of Celje. The area was part of the traditional region of Lower Styria...
to the south, Vojnik
Vojnik, Slovenia
Vojnik is a town and a municipality in eastern Slovenia. It lies on the Hudinja River, to the north of Celje. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria region. The municipality is now included in the Savinja statistical region....
to the west, Zreče
Zrece
Zreče is a town and a municipality in northeast Slovenia. It lies on the slopes of Pohorje in the upper valley of the river Dravinja. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria region. The municipality is now included in the Savinja statistical region. In 2002 it had a population of 6245,...
to the northwest, Oplotnica
Oplotnica
Oplotnica is a small town and municipality in eastern Slovenia. It lies on a stream with the same name, a left tributary of the Dravinja River, to the north of Slovenske Konjice. The area was part of the traditional region of Lower Styria...
to the north, Slovenska Bistrica
Slovenska Bistrica
Slovenska Bistrica is a town and a municipality south of Maribor in eastern Slovenia. It is one of the largest municipalities in Slovenia. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria region. The municipality is now included in the Drava statistical region. The town was established in the...
to the east, and Rogaška Slatina
Rogaška Slatina
Rogaška Slatina is a settlement and a municipality in Slovenia. It is famous for its curative mineral water, spa and crystal glass.Rogaška Slatina is a synonym for health resort tourism in Slovenia. For centuries the curative mineral water rich in magnesium , the picturesque countryside and other...
to the southeast. It spreads over 97.8 square kilometers and has a population of 13.600. About hundred kilometers from Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
or Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
it is easily reachable by A1 motorway
A1 motorway (Slovenia)
The A1 motorway is 236,1 km long, connecting Šentilj and Koper/Capodistria . It passes several important Slovenian cities, including Maribor, Celje and Ljubljana all the way to the Slovenian Littoral and Koper, with its important port.Construction began in 1970 and the first section was...
nicknamed Slovenika and via the little airport near Loče
Loče, Slovenske Konjice
Loče, known previously also as Loče pri Poljčanah, is a settlement in the Slovenske Konjice municipality in eastern Slovenia. It lies on the left bank of the river Dravinja. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Styria...
.
History & Town sights
The town of Slovenske Konjice lies under the northern slopes of the Konjiška Gora mountain and winegrowing hills of Škalce. On a hill above the town to the southwest are the ruins of Konjice Castle, an extensive 12th century castleCastle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
with later additions, that was abandoned in the 18th century. Immediately above the Old square the medieval Trebnik Mansion
Trebnik Mansion
Trebnik Mansion is manorhouse, located in a park above the parish Church of St. George in Slovenske Konjice, Slovenia.-Architecture:The manor comprises two building tracts and their basements; the northern tract has arcaded passageways on the ground and first floors, dating to the Middle Ages...
stands. The 850-years old dense town line is a sloping square, from Trebnik manor past the St. George parish church, along small stream
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
in an open channel, down to the Dravinja
Dravinja
The Dravinja River is the largest tributary of the Drava River in Slovenia. It is long. Its source is on the Pohorje Massif southwest of Mount Rogla about 1,150 m above sea level. The river passes Zreče, the town of Slovenske Konjice, the ruins of the fort at Zbelovo, Poljčane, Makole, Štatenberg...
river. The new square (Mestni trg) is situated on the other bank of the river, connected with old square by "horse bridge".
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....
is dedicated to Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor. It dates to the late 13th century with 18th century additions (side baroque chapel). Town was mentioned in written sources dating to 1165 as a seminal parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
. The castle is first mentioned in 1148 and the market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
in 1236. The town itself was not surrounded by walls. At the times of Ottoman raids
Ottoman wars in Europe
The wars of the Ottoman Empire in Europe are also sometimes referred to as the Ottoman Wars or as Turkish Wars, particularly in older, European texts.- Rise :...
the church with the vicarage served as a fortified refuge. A second church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Anne
Saint Anne
Saint Hanna of David's house and line, was the mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ according to Christian and Islamic tradition. English Anne is derived from Greek rendering of her Hebrew name Hannah...
. It dates to the mid 16th century with a 17th century belfry
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
and Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
additions.
The main street and the transversal connections above the Dravinja are lined with longitudinal or transversally positioned one-storey secular houses with well preserved Gothic cores and Renaissance additions. The facades were restyled in the 19th century (Biedermeier
Biedermeier
In Central Europe, the Biedermeier era refers to the middle-class sensibilities of the historical period between 1815, the year of the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of the European revolutions...
, Historicism
Historicism (art)
Historicism refers to artistic styles that draw their inspiration from copying historic styles or artisans. After neo-classicism, which could itself be considered a historicist movement, the 19th century saw a new historicist phase marked by a return to a more ancient classicism, in particular in...
). A rarity is the Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
building of the savings bank. A Marian column
Marian and Holy Trinity columns
Marian columns are religious monuments built in honour of the Virgin Mary, often in thanksgiving for the ending of a plague or for some other help. The purpose of the Holy Trinity columns was usually simply to celebrate the church and the faith. However, the plague motif could sometimes play its...
near the church dating to the mid 18th century and a columnar shrine dedicated to Saint Florian
Saint Florian
Florian lived in the time of the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian, and was commander of the imperial army in the Roman province of Noricum. In addition to his military duties, he was also responsible for organizing firefighting brigades....
above the stream (the author of both is Franc Zamlik, 1750) dominate the open square. The town core is well preserved, with no aggressive breakthroughs of the roofs and diverse concepts inside the condensed nucleus.
Konjice played its part during the Slovenian peasant revolt of 1515, with rebels here composing a letter with their demands to send to the emperor
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. Economic development was boosted after construction of main Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
to Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
road in the 18th century. During the 19th century the town got a local court. The Austrian Southern Railway
Austrian Southern Railway
The Austrian Southern Railway was an Austrian railway company established in 1841...
was built in 1846, but it ran 15 km east of Konjice. On 20 June 1892 works started on a narrow gauge
Narrow gauge
A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
(760 mm) steam railroad
Steam railroad
Steam railroad is a term used in the United States to distinguish conventional heavy railroads from street railways, interurban streetcar lines, and other light railways usually dedicated primarily to passenger transport....
line called Konjičanka from Poljčane
Poljcane
Poljčane is a small town and a municipality in northeastern Slovenia. It lies 35 km south of Maribor and 35 km northeast of Celje. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria region. It belonged to the Slovenska Bistrica municipality until 2006 when it became an independent...
to Slovenske Konjice, which was opened on 20 December 1892. On 29 June 1921 it was extended to Zreče
Zrece
Zreče is a town and a municipality in northeast Slovenia. It lies on the slopes of Pohorje in the upper valley of the river Dravinja. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria region. The municipality is now included in the Savinja statistical region. In 2002 it had a population of 6245,...
. It was closed in 1963, and the tracks were removed in 1970. A Museum locomotive K.3 (Gonobitz), build by Krauss factory at Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
, that was used on this railway is on display at the Slovenian Railway Museum
Slovenian Railway Museum
The Slovenian Railway Museum, or Railway Museum of Slovenian railways , in Ljubljana, Slovenia, is the national museum for Slovenia's railway history....
in Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
.
Forms of the written name
Over the centuries the name Konjice appears in written documents in various forms: Gonviz (1251), Gombicz (1370), Gannabitz (1570), Gonaviz (1594), Gonavitz (1630), Gonwitz (1636), Gonowitz (1662), Ganowiz (1680), Gonnawitz (1680) and the ."Konjice" got the adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
"Slovenske" in the 1918, during Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
, in order not to be confused with the town of Konjic
Konjic
Konjic is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in northern Herzegovina, around southwest of Sarajevo. It is a mountainous, heavily wooded area, and is above sea level. The municipality extends on both sides of the Neretva River. The town of Konjic, housed about a third...
in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
.
Owners of the castle
- house of Gonobitz 1148-1329
- house of Wilthausen 1329-1385
- house of DuinoDuinoDuino is a town at the Adriatic coast in the municipality of Duino-Aurisina, part of the region of Friuli – Venezia Giulia in the province of Trieste, north-eastern Italy....
1385-1406 - counts Walsee 1406-1469
- regional princes 1496-1576
- Johann von Khißl 1576-1592
- Archduke FerdinandFerdinand II, Holy Roman EmperorFerdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...
1594-1597 - counts Tattenbach 1597-1670
- Holy Roman EmperorHoly Roman EmperorThe Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
1670-1685 - Johann and Otto Tattenbach 1685-1692
- Seiz CharterhouseSeiz CharterhouseŽiče Charterhouse latin Domus Valli Sancti Johannis, was a Carthusian monastery or charterhouse situated at the end of the narrow valley of the Žičnica stream, also known as the Valley of Saint John the Baptist after the church dedicated to John the Baptist at the monastery, near the village of...
1692-1783 - religious foundation 1783-1828
- princes of Windisch-GrätzWindisch-GraetzThe House of Windisch-Graetz, also spelled Windisch-Grätz, was a princely family in the Austrian Empire, serving the Habsburg dynasty.The name derives from the town of Windischgrätz in the Duchy of Styria, which is today Slovenj Gradec in the Carinthia region of Slovenia...
1828-1945
Tourism
- 1998 The town won the prestigious European Entente FloraleEntente FloraleThe Entente Florale is an international horticultural competition established to recognise municipalities and villages in Europe for excellence in horticultural displays. Trophies are presented annually by tourist boards and horticultural societies of European countries...
Gold Medal Award.http://www.entente-florale.eu/efe
- Traditional "Jurjevanje" (st. Georg feast) ranks Slovenske Konjice among Europe's Carnival CitiesFederation of European Carnival CitiesThe Federation of European Carnival Cities was founded in 1980 and has been registered in the Court of Luxembourg. Member cities, organization and individual members are engaged in producing popular celebrations or carnivals which represent an authentic masquerade or parade of a people's cultural...
.
The Škalce and Konjiška gora areas are interlaced with numerous trails that local people enjoy using for Sunday walks. Slovenske Konjice's sights.
Town is rewarded for its efforts with national "Most Beautiful Excursion Destination" award by Tourist Association of Slovenia for many years in row.
Culture
- Walk Under Water - international festival of underwater film and video
Prominent persons
Prominent persons from the municipality of Slovenske Konjice include:- Branko Rudolf - slovene writer
- Ivan Minatti - slovene poet
- Jure ZdovcJure ZdovcJurij "Jure" Zdovc is a retired Slovenian basketball player and the coach of BC Spartak Saint Petersburg.As junior he start to play for Comet Slovenske Konjice...
- slovene basketball player / coach - Marjan Lesnik - Chef de Cuisine at Claridges for over 12 years (1983–1995) featured on British and American TV, including appearances as chief adjudicator for the Pierre Taitinger International Culinary Prize. Marjan is a member of the Master Chefs of Great Britain and the Academy of culinary arts, has been President of Europe Toque and cooks on various occasions for the British Royal Family.
Sources
EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
:
- Bela Sever, Central Europe: Slovenija, Nordic Book (HK) Ltd, 1998, Iceland. ISBN 962-8144-05-2
Slovene
Slovenian language
Slovene or Slovenian is a South Slavic language spoken by approximately 2.5 million speakers worldwide, the majority of whom live in Slovenia. It is the first language of about 1.85 million people and is one of the 23 official and working languages of the European Union...
:
- Stegenšek AvguštinAvguštin StegenšekAvguštin Stegenšek Ph. D. was a Slovene theologian, philosopher and art historian.After his graduation of theology, he left for Rome to study archaeology and art history. Later, he was awarded a doctor's degree of philosophy sciences at the university of Graz in 1906...
, Konjiška dekanija, Maribor, 1909. - Baraga Jože, Motaln Valerija, Konjiško 860 let (1146-2006) Zbornik ob 860-letnici Slovenskih Konjic, Slovenske Konjice 2006.
Twin towns
- Hlohovec
SlovakiaSlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
(2007)
- KosjerićKosjericKosjerić is a town and municipality in Western Serbia. The municipality has 12,873 inhabitants, but the town itself has 3,970. The municipality's area is 359 square kilometers, with 26 villages mostly placed in the river valleys, though there are also some settlements in the mountains at altitudes...
SerbiaSerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
(2009)
- SollefteåSollefteåSollefteå is a locality and the seat of Sollefteå Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 8,530 inhabitants in 2005.The earliest written account on Sollefteå is found in a script dating back to 1270. During this time the name of the village was given as De Solatum - a name that can be...
SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
(2008)