Železniki (; german: Eisnern''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 66–67.) is a small town in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. It is the seat of the

Municipality of Železniki The Municipality of Železniki (; sl, Občina Železniki) is a municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Železniki. The municipality was established in its current form on 3 October 1994, ...

and it is the economic centre and the largest settlement in the

Selca Valley Selca may refer to: Geography Croatia * Selca, Brač, a municipality on the island of Brač, Croatia * Selca, Istria County, a village in the municipality of Buzet, Croatia * Selca kod Bogomolja, a village on the island of Hvar, Croatia, and an ...

. It includes the hamlets of Jesenovec, Gorenji Konec (in older sources also ''Zgornji Železniki'', german: Obereisnern), Ovčja Vas ( sl, Ovčja vas), Trnje (in older sources also ''Srednji Železniki'', german: Mittereisnern), Racovnik (in older sources also ''Spodnji Železniki'', german: Untereisnern), Škovine, Na Kresu, Češnjica, Log, and Tolar.

Industry

Železniki used to be known for

iron smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a c ...

, and its name in Slovene indicates a relation to

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...

. The first

furnace A furnace is a structure in which heat is produced with the help of combustion. Furnace may also refer to: Appliances Buildings * Furnace (central heating): a furnace , or a heater or boiler , used to generate heat for buildings * Boiler, used t ...

was mentioned in 1422, and the original furnace was replaced in 1826 by a blast furnace that ceased operating in about 1902. The town is known for bobbin lace-making and has a lace-making school where the tradition is taught. Certain relatively large factories are based in Železniki, including

Alples Alples is the leading middle price furniture manufacturer in Slovenia. It was established in 1955 as ''Medzadružno lesno industrijsko podjetje Češnjica'' ("The intercooperative timber industry company Češnjica") in 1955 and renamed to its c ...

Domel Domel ( ps, ډومېل) also spelled as Domail is a main town in Domel tehsil of Bannu District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is also union council of Bannu District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Domel is inhabited mostly by Ahmadzai ...

and

Niko Niko may refer to: People The given name is sometimes a short form of Nikola, Nikolas, Nikolaos or others. * Nikō (1253–1314), Japanese Buddhist disciple of Nichiren * Niko (musician), American musician active from 2002 * NiKo (born 199 ...

. These firms sponsor local sports teams such as the Alples

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

team, football team NK Železniki, and the Galaks

floorball Floorball is a type of floor hockey with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. Men and women play indoors with sticks and a plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three twenty-minute periods. The sport of bandy also played a role ...

team. The architecture of the old part of the settlement is mainly from the 17th century. The main attraction in the town is its museum with exhibits related to ironworking and other local activities. Part of the original smelting furnace is preserved outside the museum and also appears in the coat of arms of the town.

Churches

The parish church in Železniki is dedicated to Saint Anthony and stands in Trnje on the left bank of the Selca Sora River. It was built between 1872 and 1874 in the

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style at the site of an earlier church that burned down in 1822. The church was built by Franc Faleschini based on a design by Štefan Šubic. The bell tower was damaged by fire in 1944, but was repaired in 1997. The church contains works by Janez Wolf, Janez Gosar Sr., and Ludovik Grilc. Saint Francis Xavier Church stands on the opposite side of the river in Log. It was built in 1707 in the Baroque style, with a barrel-vaulted chancel and nave. The chancel vault and arch were painted by Štefan Šubic in 1857. The cemetery around the church was established in the early 19th century.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 2717.

References

External links

*
Železniki at GeopediaŽelezniki municipal website
Includes virtual panoramas. *http://www.td-zelezniki.si/ct-menu-item-1 Populated places in the Municipality of Železniki Zelezniki {{Železniki-geo-stub