Gorenje Kamenje (, in older sources ''Gorenje Kamnje'', german: Obersteinberg) is a settlement in the hills north of the town of Novo Mesto in southeastern Slovenia. The entire City Municipality of Novo Mesto is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region.

Landmarks

Church

The local church is dedicated to the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

and belongs to the Parish of

Mirna Peč Mirna Peč (; german: Hönigstein) is a rural settlement in southeast Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Mirna Peč. Geography Mirna Peč is located about 10 km northwest of Novo Mesto, the cultural and administrative centre o ...

. It is a medieval building with an 18th-century extension and belfry.

Hopfenbach Castle

Hopfenbach Castle ( sl, grad Hmeljnik) stands west of the settlement, on a hill overlooking the A2 motorway. The original owners of the castle, the noble Hopfenbachs, died out in the 14th century. Subsequently the castle was owned by the Carniolan comital families Auersperg, Gallenfells, and Paradaiser, and the baronial families Tschernembl and Jankovič. In 1876 the castle, by then in a dilapidated state, was bought by Baron Franz Wambolt von Umstadt of

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

. The Wambolt family carried out a thorough restoration, maintaining the Renaissance architectural elements and uncovering older Gothic and Romanesque elements covered or altered by previous adaptations. Before the Second World War, the castle served as perhaps the best example of extant profane medieval architecture in Carniola. In 1942 the castle was ransacked by the Slovene Partisans and locals, and partially burned. The abandoned castle was subsequently bombed in an RAF raid. State sponsored restoration works began in the late 1950s, but soon stalled. The remains have been deteriorating ever since. Most of the interesting architectural elements, including the renaissance arcaded hallways of the inner courtyard, have since disappeared. Hopfenbach is a

hilltop castle A hilltop castle is a type of hill castle that was built on the summit of a hill or mountain. In the latter case it may be termed a mountaintop castle. The term is derived from the German, ''Gipfelburg'', which is one of a number of terms used ...

. The Romanesque square keep was first expanded with the addition of Gothic perimeter towers and the eastern wing. During the Habsburg–Ottoman wars the entire complex was surrounded with a defensive wall, reinforced with round towers. During the Renaissance, arcaded hallways were added to the inner courtyard and outbuildings were constructed in the lower courtyard. The final result was an extensive defensive complex, with two concentric defensive walls closing off the access to the main building, perched on the raised ridge. A walled garden was laid out east of the complex, separated from the main gate by a dry moat.

References

External links

Gorenje Kamenje on Geopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorenje Kamenje, Novo Mesto Populated places in the City Municipality of Novo Mesto