Otlica () is a

dispersed settlement A dispersed settlement, also known as a scattered settlement, is one of the main types of settlement patterns used by landscape historians to classify rural settlements found in England and other parts of the world. Typically, there are a numb ...

in the hills north of

Ajdovščina Ajdovščina (; it, Aidussina,trilingual name "Haidenschaft, Aidussina, Ajdovščina" inGemeindelexikon, der im Reichsrate Vertretenen Königreiche und Länder. Bearbeit auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1900. Herausgege ...

in the

Littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...

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 made up of smaller clusters of the hamlets of Sibirija, Kitajska, Kurja Vas ( sl, Kurja vas), and Cerkovna, as well as a number of outlying isolated farms.

Geography

Otlica is located on the high

Trnovo Forest Plateau The Trnovo Forest Plateau ( sl, Trnovski gozd) is a karst plateau that constitutes the extreme northwest end of the Dinaric Alps.Perko, Drago, & Milan Orožen Adamič. 1998. ''Slovenija: pokrajine in ljudje''. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, p. 324. ...

( sl, Trnovski gozd), overlooking the

Vipava Valley The Vipava Valley (; sl, Vipavska dolina, german: Wippachtal, it, Valle del Vipacco) is a valley in the Slovenian Littoral, roughly between the village of Podnanos to the east and the border with Italy to the west. The main towns are Ajdovš ...

. The part of the larger plateau known as the Otlica Plateau ( sl, Otliška planota) is named after Otlica. Together with the ridge-top villages of

Predmeja Predmeja (; formerly ''Dol pri Otlici'') is a settlement in the Municipality of Ajdovščina in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It lies on the edge of a karst plateau north of the town of Ajdovščina, overlooking the Vipava Valley. Together with ...

, Kovk, and Gozd, it is part of an area locally known as Gora (literally, 'the mountain').

Names

The name ''Otlica'' is derived from the Slovene adjective ''otel'' 'hollow'. It refers to a karst sinkhole about west of Navrše Hill (elevation ); the bottom of the sinkhole leads to the opposite side of the Gora Ridge through a passage high and wide that opens above a footpath to Ajdovščina. In folk tradition the mountain was therefore referred to as being hollow. The hamlet of Siberija (literally, 'Siberia') is so named because of its exposure to the frost and the

bora wind The bora is a northerly to north-easterly katabatic wind in areas near the Adriatic Sea. Similar nomenclature is used for north-eastern winds in other littoral areas of eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea basins. Name It is known in Greek as (' ...

, and the hamlet of Kitajska (literally, 'China') is a reference to the large number of children that people living there had.

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 the

Guardian Angels A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in A ...

and belongs to the

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

.Koper Diocese list of churches

References

External links

*
Otlica at Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Ajdovščina {{Ajdovščina-geo-stub