Brestanica () is an urban settlement in the
Municipality of Krško
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in eastern
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 lies in the valley at the
confluence
In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
of the
Sava River
The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...
with a minor tributary called the Brestanica. The area is part of the traditional region of
Styria
Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...
. It is now included with the rest of the municipality in the
Lower Sava Statistical Region
The Lower Sava Statistical Region ( sl, Posavska statistična regija; until December 31, 2014 ) is a statistical region in Slovenia. It has good traffic accessibility and is located in the Sava and Krka Valleys, with hilly areas with vineyards and ...
.
Name
The settlement was originally called ''Rajhenburg'' in Slovene, after Reichenburg Castle in the settlement. This name was attested in written sources in 895 as ''Richenburch.''
[Snoj, Marko. 2009. ''Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen''. Ljubljana: Modrijan and Založba ZRC, p. 78.] The name of the settlement was changed from ''Rajhenburg'' to ''Brestanica'' in 1952. The name was changed on the basis of the 1948 Law on Names of Settlements and Designations of Squares, Streets, and Buildings as part of efforts by Slovenia's postwar communist government to remove German elements from toponyms. The name ''Brestanica'' was originally a
hydronym
A hydronym (from el, ὕδρω, , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As a ...
referring to Brestanica Creek, which runs through the settlement and is a tributary of the
Sava River
The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...
. The creek name was attested in written sources circa 1500 as ''Brestanza'', and in the 16th century as ''Prestonicz''. The hydronym is derived from ''*Brěstovьnica'' (based on the common noun ''*brěstъ'' '
elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...
'), literally meaning 'elm creek'.
History
A prehistoric settlement probably stood on the hill above Brestanica, where the castle is now located. Remnants of the Roman era include milestones from the Roman road along the Sava and traces of a bridge across the river. A settlement was attested below Rajhenburg castle as early as the 13th century, and it received market rights in the 14th century, including the right to four annual fairs. The settlement was plundered and burned in an
Ottoman attack in 1476. Unsuccessful peasant attacks on the castle occurred in 1515, 1573, and 1583. In 1595, the archbishop of Salzburg granted the settlement and castle to the Moscon family, who were followed by the Gradneck, Gallenstein, and Attems families. A school was established in Brestanica in 1774. On 5 November 1918, armed miners and farmers marched on Brestanica, demanding that merchants sell them goods at low cost. The Communist Party had a strong presence in Brestanica from 1938 onward.
[Savnik, Roman, ed. 1976. ''Krajevni leksikon Slovenije'', vol. 3. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije. pp. 127–128.]
Mass grave
Brestanica is the site of a
mass grave
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...
associated with the Second World War. The Hafnar Ravine Mass Grave ( sl, Grobišče Hafnarjev graben) is located in the Hafnar Ravine along Suhadol Creek, opposite Rajhenburg Castle. It contains the remains of up to 186 Croatian and Serbian soldiers, as well as 20 to 30 Slovene civilians.
Rajhenburg Castle
![Postcard of Brestanica Castle 1927](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Postcard_of_Brestanica_Castle_1927.jpg)
On a hill on the right bank of the Sava River, south of the settlement, is Rajhenburg Castle ( sl, Grad Rajhenburg). It was first mentioned in written documents dating to AD 895, making it the earliest documented castle in Slovenia. It has preserved some of its
Romanesque features and an early
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
, but most of its current structure dates to around 1600. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
it was used as a
deportee collection centre by the
German forces. From June 1948 to October 1956 the communist authorities used the castle as a penal institution for female political prisoners.
Churches
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 is a
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
dedicated to
Our Lady of Lourdes
Our Lady of Lourdes (french: Notre-Dame de Lourdes) is a title of the Virgin Mary. She is venerated under this title by the Roman Catholic church due to her apparitions that occurred in Lourdes, France. The first apparition of 11 February 1858, o ...
and belongs to the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje ( la, Dioecesis Celeiensis; sl, Škofija Celje) is a diocese located in the city of Celje in the Ecclesiastical province of Maribor in Slovenia.
History
* April 7, 2006: Established as Diocese of Celje from ...
. It was built between 1908 and 1914 in a
Neo-Romanesque style. Previously the parish church was a church in the southern part of the settlement, dedicated to
Saints Peter and
Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
. It was first mentioned in written documents dating to 1213, but the current building was built in 1341 with a 17th-century
belfry and two 18th-century side chapels. A third church in the town, close to the parish church, is dedicated to
Saint Sebastian
Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Dioclet ...
. On a hill to the east of the settlement a further church is dedicated to
Saints Hermagoras and Fortunatus. It was built in the late 15th century and has a chapel dedicated to
Saint Notburga with well preserved, high-quality
wall paintings.
Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number 2904
Notable people
Notable people that were born or lived in Brestanica include:
*Adam Bohorič
Adam Bohorič () ( – after 20 November 1598) was a Slovene Protestant preacher, teacher and author of the first grammar of Slovene.
Bohorič was born in the market town of Reichenburg in the Duchy of Styria (now Brestanica in Slov ...
(c. 1520–1598), Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
preacher, teacher, and author of the first grammar
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...
of Slovene
Transport
Brestanica has been linked via railway with Zidani Most
Zidani Most (; german: Steinbrück) is a settlement in the Municipality of Laško in eastern Slovenia. It lies at the confluence of the Sava and Savinja rivers. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. It is now included with the r ...
and Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
since 1861. The principal station in the settlement is the Brestanica railway station.
References
External links
*
Brestanica on Geopedia
{{Authority control
Populated places in the Municipality of Krško