Podkoren (, german: Wurzen) is a settlement in the
Municipality of Kranjska Gora in the northwestern
Upper Carniola region of
Slovenia.
Geography
It is situated in the
Upper Sava Valley
The Upper Sava Valley ( sl, Zgornjesavska dolina) is an alpine valley in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. The Sava Dolinka River flows along it. It begins in Rateče at an elevation of 870 m and ends at Moste at 560 m. It is the geographic ...
. The
Zelenci nature reserve, at the source of the
Sava River, is located just west of the village. The
Sava Dolinka River flows east from here, to the south of Podkoren. Originally an agricultural area, the local economy today mainly depends on
tourism, especially in winter with several
ski pistes on the slopes of the
Karawanks.
The village center lies on the road from
Jesenice and
Kranjska Gora to
Rateče and the border with
Italy in the west. Here the
Wurzen Pass road branches off, leading across the main ridge of the Karawanks range to the
Austrian state of
Carinthia
Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...
in the north.
History
From the 15th century Podkoren, in the far northwest of the
Duchy of Carniola, was a
toll station on the steep road up to the Wurzen mountain pass, for centuries the shortest and most direct link from the
Littoral towns of
Trieste and
Gorizia to
Villach in
Carinthia
Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...
. Today the main link is on the
A2 motorway through the
Karawanks Tunnel further east. A former railway line from Jesenice via Kranjska Gora and Podkoren to
Tarvisio in the west built in the 1870s was dismantled after train service ceased in 1966.
The village church is dedicated to
Saint Andrew
Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...
and is of
late Gothic
International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by t ...
origin, as are many houses in the village, but it was largely refurbished in the
Baroque style.
The British chemist
Humphry Davy (1778–1829) stayed here on a visit to the area.
Image:3291podkorenChurchStAndrew.jpg, St. Andrew's Church, Podkoren
Image:Podkoren, straatzicht foto3 2011-07-18 18.30.jpg, Podkoren, view of a street
Image:3287 HumphryDavyPodkorenHouse.jpg, The house in which Humphry Davy stayed
Image:3287 HumphryDavyPodkorenSign.jpg, Plaque commemorating Humphry Davy's stay
References
External links
*
Podkoren on Geopedia
{{Authority control
Populated places in the Municipality of Kranjska Gora