Grgar (; it, Gargaro) is a

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 ...

in western

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 ...

in the

Municipality of Nova Gorica The City Municipality of Nova Gorica (; sl, Mestna občina Nova Gorica) is a municipality in the traditional region of the Slovene Littoral in western Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the city of Nova Gorica. Nova Gorica became a munici ...

. It is located under Holy Mount ( sl, Sveta gora), above the

Soča The Soča ( in Slovene) or Isonzo ( in Italian; other names fur, Lusinç, german: Sontig, la, Aesontius or ') is a long river that flows through western Slovenia () and northeastern Italy (). An Alpine river in character, its source lies in ...

Valley and below the

Banjšice Plateau The Banjšice Plateau ( sl, Banjška planota, also or , it, Altopiano della Bainsizza) is a karst plateau in western Slovenia, in the traditional region of Goriška. It is a widely settled area, distinguished by its history and biodiversity. Geog ...

Name

Grgar was mentioned in written sources 1370 as ''Gaergaer'' and in 1389 as ''Grêgôr''. For phonological and morphological reasons, the latter transcription appears to be a

hypercorrection In sociolinguistics, hypercorrection is non-standard use of language that results from the over-application of a perceived rule of language-usage prescription. A speaker or writer who produces a hypercorrection generally believes through a mi ...

and not connected with

Saint Gregory Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...

or the name ''Gregor'' 'Gregory'. Instead, the name may be derived from another Romance base, perhaps ''*gregārius'' 'shepherd'.

Mass graves

Grgar is the site of two 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 ...

associated with the Second World War. The Podgomila Shaft Mass Grave ( sl, Grobišče Brezno Podgomila), also known as the Miljavec Shaft Mass Grave (), is located on the left side of the road to

Grgarske Ravne Grgarske Ravne (; it, Raune) is a settlement north of Grgar in the Municipality of Nova Gorica in western Slovenia. It is located on the Banjšice Plateau and it forms a local community together with the nearby village of Bate, Nova Gorica, Bate. ...

, about north of Grgar. It contains the remains of

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...

and Italian prisoners of war, and Slovene and Italian civilians murdered in May 1945. The Jošč Shaft Mass Grave () is located on the left side of the road to

, about north of Grgar. It contains the remains of unknown victims.

Church

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 settlement is dedicated to Saint Martin and belongs to the

Diocese of Koper ) , cocathedral = Co-Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Nova Gorica() , area_km2 = 4,386 , parishes = 100 , population = 266,403 , population_as_of = 2013 , catholics = 181,230 , catholics_percent= 68 , pope ...

.Roman Catholic Diocese of Koper List of Churches May 2008

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Grgar include: *

Matej Bor Matej Bor was the pen name of Vladimir Pavšič (14 April 1913 – 29 September 1993), who was a Slovene poet, translator, playwright, journalist, and Partisan. Biography Matej Bor was born as Vladimir Pavšič in the village of Grgar near Gori ...

, pen name of Vladimir Pavšič (1913–1993), poet

References

External links

Grgar on Geopedia
*
Populated places in the City Municipality of Nova Gorica {{NovaGorica-geo-stub