Mekinje (; in older sources also ''Mekine'',''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 26. german: Münkendorf, Minkendorf''Intelligenzblatt zur Laibacher Zeitung'', no. 141. 24 November 1849, p. 18.) is a settlement at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the

Kamnik Bistrica The Kamnik Bistrica ( sl, Kamniška Bistrica, ) is an Alpine river in northern Slovenia, a left tributary of the Sava River. It springs from the Kamnik Alps (part of the Southern Limestone Alps) near the border with Austria. It is long. The Kamnik ...

and

Nevljica The Nevljica is a river in the Municipality of Kamnik, Slovenia. It has its source below Kozjak Hill (737 m, near Črni Vrh v Tuhinju) and flows through the Tuhinj Valley. It also flows through the settlements of Nevlje and Mekinje. It is a left ...

rivers in the

Municipality of Kamnik The Municipality of Kamnik (; sl, Občina Kamnik) is a municipality in northern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Kamnik. Today it is part of the Central Slovenia Statistical Region. It is the 15th-largest municipality by area ...

in the

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 ...

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 ...

. It is considered a suburb of the town of Kamnik.

Name

Mekinje was attested in written sources in 1143–47 as ''Minkendorf'' (and as ''Minchendor(f)'' in 1209 and ''Menkendorf'' in 1288). The name is probably based on the Slavic personal name ''*Mękyna'' (< ''*mękъ(kъ)'' 'soft'), meaning 'Mękyna's village' and referring to an early inhabitant of the place. It is less likely that the name is based on the common noun ''*mękyn'i'' 'bran; chaff, husks; soft straw'. The settlement was known as ''Münkendorf'' or ''Minkendorf'' in German in the past.

Convent

Mekinje is the location of a large Ursuline convent. The convent with its church dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

was founded in 1300 by Siegfried of Gallenberg and granted to the

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

. The original monastery was destroyed in 1491 during Ottoman raids and was rebuilt soon after. It was totally rebuilt again in the late 17th century (1682), but by the end of the 18th century it was dissolved by

Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

. From 1902 to 1945 it was administered by the Ursuline Order from

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 ...

, but then

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

after the

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 ...

and only returned to the order in 1990. From 1972 to 2000 it served as a storage unit for the

National and University Library of Slovenia The National and University Library ( sl, Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, ), established in 1774, is one of the most important national educational and cultural institutions of Slovenia. It is located in the centre of Ljubljana, between Aue ...

and the convent still has a rich library of its own.

Bridge

The bridge over the Nevljica in Mekinje was built between 1952 and 1955. Its location was selected by

Jože Plečnik Jože Plečnik () (23 January 1872 – 7 January 1957) was a Slovene architect who had a major impact on the modern architecture of Vienna, Prague and of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, most notably by designing the iconic Triple Bridge and ...

, and its detailed plans were created by his assistant

Anton Bitenc Anton may refer to: People *Anton (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Anton (surname) Places *Anton Municipality, Bulgaria **Anton, Sofia Province, a village *Antón District Antón is a district (''distrito'') of ...

, based on Plečnik's plans.

Notable people

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

Matej Furlan Matej is a given name that originates from the Slavic nations of Central and Eastern Europe. It is one of the most common male names in Slovakia and Slovenia, and is also common in Croatia. The name is originally derived from Matthias the Apostle. ...

(1725?–1780), beekeeperBokal, Ljudmila, ed. 2008. ''Čebelarski terminološki slovar.'' Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU and Lukovica: Čebelarska zveza Slovenije, p. 254.

References

External links

*
Mekinje at Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Kamnik {{Kamnik-geo-stub