Gorica (; hu, HalmosfőVengušt, Jernej. 1919. ''Seznamek prekmurskih občin (krajev) z označbo pošte in zemljevidom.'' Radgona, p. 6. /ref>) is a small roadside village in the
Municipality of Puconci
The Municipality of Puconci (; sl, Občina Puconci) is a municipality in the traditional region of Prekmurje in northeastern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Puconci. Puconci became a municipality in 1994.
The majority of t ...
in the
Prekmurje
Prekmurje (; dialectically: ''Prèkmürsko'' or ''Prèkmüre''; hu, Muravidék) is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region of Slovenia, settled by Slovenes and a Hungarian minority, lying between the Mur Ri ...
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 ...
.
Location
Gorica is located only 6 km north of
Murska Sobota
Murska Sobota (, Slovenian abbreviation: ''MS'' ; german: Olsnitz;''Radkersburg und Luttenberg'' (map, 1:75,000). 1894. Vienna: K.u.k. Militärgeographisches Institut. hu, Muraszombat) is a town in northeastern Slovenia. It is the centre of the ...
, the main town in the Prekmurje region. The main part of the settlement of Gorica developed along main road from Puconci to Brezovci.
At the crossroads in the centre of the
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
, a secondary road leads southwards to
Polana
Polana may refer to the following places:
Places
* Polana, Lower Silesian Voivodeship (south-west Poland)
* Polana, Subcarpathian Voivodeship (south-east Poland)
* Polana, Opole Voivodeship (south-west Poland)
* Polana, Pomeranian Voivodeship (nor ...
. There is a second crossroad at the western end of the village with road towards the hamlet of the settlement known as Gornja Gorica (Upper Gorica) and the village of Šalamenci turning towards the north. There is a
natural spring
A spring is a point of exit at which groundwater from an aquifer flows out on top of Earth's crust (pedosphere) and becomes surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fresh w ...
in the middle of the village. Known locally by the Slovene word for spring, ''Izvir'', it was particularly important before a
water supply network
A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following:
# A drainage basin (see water purification – source ...
was built in the village in 1968. The spring with the concrete water
cistern
A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...
built around it, is considered a landmark and is valued by the local people. The local mini football team is named ''KMN Izvir Gorica'' after it.
Village activities
Farming
Local people mostly work in
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
. There is a variety of soils around the village with a mixture of
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
and sandy soils towards hills to the north of the settlement and lime-rich
marl
Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae.
Marl makes up the lower part o ...
stone mixed with sandy soils in the flatlands to the south. Crops cultivated in the area include
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
,
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
,
hybrid corn
Heterosis, hybrid vigor, or outbreeding enhancement is the improved or increased function of any biological quality in a hybrid offspring. An offspring is heterotic if its traits are enhanced as a result of mixing the genetic contributions of ...
rye
Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...
, and
sugar beet
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...
s.
Potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
es for domestic use, as well as
pumpkin
A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
s, from which locals extract
pumpkin seed oil
Pumpkin seed oil is a culinary oil, used especially in central Europe.
Culinary uses
This oil is a culinary specialty from what used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is now southeastern Austria (Styria), eastern Slovenia (Styria a ...
, are also grown in the fields and fruit trees are maintained in gardens in the village.
Social activities
The village
fire station
__NOTOC__
A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire h ...
doubles as a
village hall
A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as:
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...
. It was built in 1957 and includes a
conference room A conference hall, conference room, or meeting room is a room provided for singular events such as business conferences and meetings.
Room
It is commonly found at large hotels and convention centers though many other establishments, including even ...
as well as a small
auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...
with a
stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* Sta ...
.
Wildlife in the rich
hunting
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
grounds around the village is managed by the Dolina Hunters' Association (Lovska Družina Dolina) from Puconci.
A women's association, a mini football club, and a voluntary firemen's association are active in the village.
The ''Štrk''
Powered Paragliding
Powered paragliding, also known as paramotoring or PPG, is a form of ultralight aviation where the pilot wears a back-pack motor (a paramotor) which provides enough thrust to take off using a paraglider. It can be launched in still air, and on ...
Club from Murska Sobota also maintains a launch and landing strip with a small
hangar
A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
The earliest mention of Gorica as ''Guricha'' in surviving written documents is in the ''Diplomataria'' dating to 1365, preserved in the
National Archives of Hungary
The National Archives of Hungary (in Hungarian: ''Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár'') were created in 1756. They were first located in Pressburg. In 1784, they were transferred to Buda.
The National Archives of Hungary is the nation's record keeper. Ar ...
. In 1366 it appears as ''Goricha in dystrict Sancti Martini''. In 1499 it is spelled ''Gorycza''. Sources from 1698 give the population of ''Goricza'' as 70.
Today there are many religions represented in the village –
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
,
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, and
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement
. Locals of various religious persuasions are well integrated, and even share a common local cemetery.
The modern history of Gorica is similar to that of all neighboring villages. With the rest of Prekmurje, it was part of the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
until 1918 and was included in the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...
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 ...
from 1941 to 1944 and
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
between 1944 and 1945. It was liberated by
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
troops in May 1945 and Soviet troops were stationed in practically every house in the village. After the Second World War the village with the surrounding infrastructure slowly started to develop. Much was achieved by the villagers themselves through volunteering for the construction of the fire station and village hall and in the
asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
ing of the main road.
Notable locals
The village is especially proud of Karel Flisar (1912–1983), born in the village, who worked as a fireman all over the Prekmurje area. He also worked at the Firemen's Association of Slovenia (''Gasilska Zveza Slovenije''), where he was a leading member. In the period immediately after the Second World War he was the initiator of the restoration of numerous local fire stations and their equipment as well as the education and training of firemen. A
commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...
to him was unveiled at the local fire station in 2005 and a competition between local fire brigades is organised in the village in his memory every four years, known as the Karl Flisar Memorial (''Gasilski memorial Karla Flisarja'').
References
Other sources
''Krajevni leksikon Slovenije'' 1980, vol. 4
Ivan Zelko:Zgodovina Prekmurja
Arhiv RS
Geodetski zavod RS
Kronologija vasi Gorica
Gallery
File:GoGo.jpg, Gornja Gorica (Upper Gorica)
File:GORICA LANG.jpg, Gorica Lang
File:GORICA MLAKA.jpg, Spring
File:Koponja_in_rože.JPG, Koponja (Cattle were once watered here.)
File:GORICA PANORAMA.jpg, Panorama
File:Vaško - gasilski dom Gorica.png, Gorica fire station
File:Razglednica G Gorica.jpg, Picture postcard of Gorica
File:Zajetje in stavba za vodovod.jpg, Building for water supply