Žiri ( or ; formerly also ''Žir'', locally ''Žier'',Snoj, Marko. 2009. ''Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen''. Ljubljana: Modrijan and Založba ZRC, pp. 490–491. german: Sairach) is a town in northwestern

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 administrative centre of the

Municipality of Žiri The Municipality of Žiri ( or ; sl, Občina Žiri) is a Municipalities of Slovenia, municipality in northwestern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Žiri. The area is part of the traditional Upper Carniola region. The entire m ...

, created in 1994. Prior to this the town belonged administratively to the area of

Škofja Loka Škofja Loka (; german: Bischoflack) is a town in Slovenia. It is the economic, cultural, educational, and administrative center of the Municipality of Škofja Loka in Upper Carniola. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Geography Škofja Loka lies a ...

Location

The town of Žiri lies in the extreme southwest part of the Upper Carniola region on the borders with the Inner Carniola and the

Littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...

regions in the Žiri Basin ( sl, Žirovska kotlina) at the end of the

Poljane Valley Poljane may refer to the following places: In Kosovo: * Poljane, Istok, a settlement in the Municipality of Istok In Serbia: * Poljane (Obrenovac), a village in the Municipality of Obrenovac In Slovenia: * Dolenje Poljane, a settlement in ...

(). A number of

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...

join there to become the

Poljane Sora The Sora (German: ''Zayer'' or ''Zeier'') is a right affluent of the Sava River in the western part of Slovenia. The Sora gathers its waters mainly from the Škofja Loka Hills. Its source branches are the Poljane Sora ( sl, Poljanska Sora, also ) ...

().

Name

The name of the settlement was first attested in 1291 as ''Syroch'' (and as ''Seyroch'' in 1307 and ''Syroch'' in 1318). It is probably derived from a plural form of the

hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek: (), from (), 'to call by pet names', sometimes also ''hypocoristic'') or pet name is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for I ...

*''Žirъ'', and the name would therefore mean 'Žir and his people'. An alternative, less likely theory, connects the name to the Slovene common noun ''žir'' ' beech nuts'. An Austrian post office was established in Žiri in 1871 under the name ''Sairach'', district of ''Loitsch'' (

Logatec Logatec (; german: Loitsch, it, Longatico) is a town in Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Logatec. It is located roughly in the centre of Inner Carniola, between the capital Ljubljana and Postojna. The town of Logatec has seen rapi ...

). The Slovene name was added to the postal name at the end of the 19th century.

Church

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the town of Žiri is dedicated to

Saint Martin Saint Martin may refer to: People * Saint Martin of Tours (c. 316–397), Bishop of Tours, France * Saint Martin of Braga (c. 520–580), archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia (now Braga in Portugal) * Pope Martin I (598–655) * Saint Mart ...

and belongs to the Archdiocese of Ljubljana.

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Žiri include: *

Leopold Suhodolčan Leopold Suhodolčan (10 August 1928 – 8 February 1980) was a Slovene writer, best known for his juvenile fiction. Together with Stanko Kotnik he was one of the conceptors of the ''Reading Badge of Slovenia'' competition that still runs today a ...

(1928–1980), writerPaternu, Boris, Helga Glušič, & Matjaž Kmecl. 1967. ''Slovenska književnost 1945-1965,'' vol. 1. Ljubljana: Slovenska matica, p. 422.

References

External links

Žiri at Geopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziri Populated places in the Municipality of Žiri Cities and towns in Upper Carniola