Nova Štifta () is a settlement in the Upper Dreta Valley in 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 ...

. It is made up of three hamlets: Šmiklavž, Tirosek, and Zgornji Dol (formerly known as Štajngrob). The area belongs to the traditional 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 ...

and is now 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 ...

Churches

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 a popular

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

church. It is known as Our Lady, Star of the Sea Church ( sl, Cerkev sv. Marije Zvezde) and belongs to the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje The Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje ( la, Dioecesis Celeiensis; sl, Škofija Celje) is a diocese located in the city of Celje in the Ecclesiastical province of Maribor in Slovenia. History * April 7, 2006: Established as Diocese of Celje from ...

. It has a large nave with three

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

s on either side and two belfries on its western facade. It was built until 1854 by the master builder Matej Medved on the site of a former three-nave

Renaissance church Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

, which burnt in fire in 1850. A second church in the hamlet of Šmiklavž is dedicated to

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

. It is

octagon In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...

al in its floor plan with an added belfry and two rectangular chapels. It was built between 1869 and 1872. The third church stands in Zgornji Dol and is dedicated to the

Presentation of Mary The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in the East as The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, is a liturgical feast celebrated on November 21 by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some Anglo-Catholic Churches. The feast ...

. It was erected in the early 16th century and redesigned in the 19th century.

Gallery

File:Postcard of Nova Štifta, Gornji Grad.jpg, Historical postcard of Nova Štifta File:1968 postcard of Nova Štifta.jpg, Historical postcard of churches in Nova Štifta

References

External links

*
Nova Štifta on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Gornji Grad {{GornjiGrad-geo-stub