Gornji Grad (; german: Oberburg''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 4: ''Štajersko''. 1904. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 44.) is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of the

Municipality of Gornji Grad The Municipality of Gornji Grad (; sl, Občina Gornji Grad) is a municipality in Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Gornji Grad. It lies on the Dreta River in the foothills of the Savinja Alps. Traditionally it belonged to ...

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 ...

Geography

It is located on the

Dreta The Dreta () is a river in Styria, northeastern Slovenia. The river is long. Its source is near the Črnivec Pass in the Kamnik Alps. It flows through the town of Gornji Grad, Bočna, and Šmartno ob Dreti, and merges with the Savinja River in Na ...

River, a right tributary of the

Savinja The Savinja () is a river in northeast Slovenia which flows mostly in the Upper and Lower Savinja Valley ( sl, Zgornja in Spodnja Savinjska dolina) and through the cities of Celje and Laško. The Savinja is the main river of the Savinja Alps (Sl ...

, in the southeastern foothills of the

Kamnik–Savinja Alps The Kamnik–Savinja Alps ( sl, Kamniško-Savinjske Alpe) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps. They lie in northern Slovenia, except for the northernmost part, which lies in Austria. The western part of the range was named the Ka ...

, about east of

Celje ) , pushpin_map = Slovenia , pushpin_label_position = left , pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city of Celje in Slovenia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Cou ...

and north of

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

. Traditionally Gornji Grad belongs to the 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 ...

(Lower Styria), it is today included in the

Savinja Statistical Region The Savinja Statistical Region ( sl, Savinjska statistična regija) is a statistical region in Slovenia. The largest town in the region is Celje. It is named after the Savinja River. The region is very diverse in natural geography; it mainly com ...

. In the west, the road leads up to the ''Črnivec sedlo'' mountain pass and to

Kamnik Kamnik (; german: Stein''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 26–27. or ''Stein in Oberkrain'') is a town in northern Slovenia. It is t ...

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( sl, Gorenjska; it, Alta Carniola; german: Oberkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jeseni ...

History

Gornji Grad has a rich history. A fortress (''grad'') already existed at the site in the early 12th century. In 1140 Patriarch

Pellegrinus I of Aquileia Pellegrinus I (died 8 August 1161), also called Pilgrim of Ortenburg, was Patriarch of Aquileia in northern Italy from 1130 to 1161. Pellegrinus was a member of a noble family of Trentino, the lords of Povo. He was a younger son of Duke Ulrich I o ...

founded a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery vested with extended possessions in the vicinity. Temporarily held by the Lords of Žovnek (Sanneck) and of

Ptuj Ptuj (; german: Pettau, ; la, Poetovium/Poetovio) is a town in northeastern Slovenia that is the seat of the Municipality of Ptuj. Ptuj, the oldest recorded city in Slovenia, has been inhabited since the late Stone Age and developed from a Roman ...

(Pettau), Gornji Grad later passed to the

Carinthian Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carint ...

counts of Heunburg, relatives of Saint

Hemma of Gurk Hemma of Gurk (german: Hemma von Gurk; 27 June 1045),29 June according t also called Emma of Gurk ( sl, Ema Krška), was a noblewoman and founder of several churches and monasteries in the Duchy of Carinthia. Buried at Gurk Cathedral since 1174, ...

, to Count Ulrich V of Pfannberg in 1322 and finally to the

Counts of Celje The Counts of Celje ( sl, Celjski grofje) or the Counts of Cilli (german: Grafen von Cilli; hu, cillei grófok) were the most influential late medieval noble dynasty on the territory of present-day Slovenia. Risen as vassals of the Habsburg dukes ...

. As part of the

Duchy of Styria The Duchy of Styria (german: Herzogtum Steiermark; sl, Vojvodina Štajerska; hu, Stájer Hercegség) was a duchy located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 180 ...

, the fief upon the death of Count

Ulrich II of Celje Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of Al ...

in 1456 was seized by the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

emperor Frederick III. In 1461 he established the

Diocese of Ljubljana The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ljubljana ( sl, Nadškofija Ljubljana, la, Archidioecesis Labacensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Slovenia.Ottoman forces, whereafter the Ljubljana bishop Sigmund Lamberg had the monastery dissolved and converted into a

diocesan priest In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogra ...

s' college in 1473.

Mass graves

Gornji Grad is the site of three known

mass graves 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 ...

from the Second World War. The Tičjek Mass Grave ( sl, Grobišče Tičjek) is located behind the house at Tičjek no. 20, on the northern edge of the settlement. It contains the remains of seven to nine civilians of various nationalities that were murdered in 1944. The Zabrinov Hill Mass Grave () is located on the slope of Zabrinov Hill () west of Gornji Grad. It contains the remains of 56 Slovene militia members from

Ptujska Gora Ptujska Gora (; german: Maria Neustift) is a village in the Municipality of Majšperk in northeastern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. It is now included with the rest of the municipality in the Drava Statistical Re ...

and its vicinity that were murdered by the Partisans in October 1944. The Ravni 1 Mass Grave () is located south of the settlement, south of the LIP Smreka business park. Together with the mass grave in neighboring Dol, it contains the remains of 100 to 200 people executed by the Partisan command of the Fourth Operation Zone in the fall of 1944.

Churches

The

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

parish church of Gornji Grad is dedicated to Saints Hermagoras and Fortunatus. It is an episcopal church with a

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

over its

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

and contains 18th-century

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

paintings and the tombs of the first bishops of Ljubljana. A second church, surrounded by the cemetery in the northern part of the settlement, is dedicated to

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...

. It has a rectangular nave with a bell tower on the south wall and symmetrical side chapels. The polygonal chancel on the north end is walled on three sides. The stonework was created by Andrej Cesar in 1869 and the paintings by Tommaso Fantoni and Matija Koželj in 1870.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 2993

Notable people

Benedikt Kuripečič Benedikt Kuripečič or Benedikt Kuripešić (german: Benedict Curipeschitz von Obernburg, 1491–1531) was a 16th-century Slovene diplomat who recorded epic songs about Miloš Obilić. Kuripečič was born in Gornji Grad, then part of the Habs ...

(c.1490–1532), diplomat

References

External links

*
Gornji Grad on Geopedia
{{Authority control Populated places in the Municipality of Gornji Grad