Dekani (; it, Villa Decani) is a settlement in the

City Municipality of Koper The City Municipality of Koper (; sl, Mestna občina Koper, it, Comune città di Capodistria) is one of twelve city municipalities of Slovenia. It lies at the coastline of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Slovenia and was established in 1994. ...

in 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 ...

region of

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 ...

Name

''Dekani'' was first attested in written sources in 1328 as ''Decani'' (and in 1423 as ''Villae Canis''). The name is derived from the noble family ''de Cani''. Locally, the name was misunderstood as derived from Italian ''cane'' 'dog', leading to the local designation ''Pasja vas'' (literally, 'dog village'), the

demonym A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...

''Pesjan'', and the associated adjective ''pesjanski''. Another theory, according to Salvator Žitko of the

University of Koper A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, is that the settlement got its name after its owner, the

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

nobleman Giovanni Dukagjini, in 1480 based on the Venetian archives of the city of

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

Church

The

local church Local church may refer to: * Church, a congregation meeting in a particular location * Local churches (affiliation), a Christian group founded by Watchman Nee * Parish church, a local church united with other parishes under a bishop or presbyter * C ...

is dedicated to the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

, and was originally built in 1229 and remodeled at the end of the 15th century.Roman Catholic Diocese of Koper List of Churches May 2008

References

External links

*
Dekani on GeopediaDekani on Google Maps
(map, photographs, street view) Populated places in the City Municipality of Koper {{Koper-geo-stub