Stari Kot (; in older sources also ''Stari Vinkelj'', german: Altwinkel,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 42–43.Petschauer, Erich. 1980. "Die Gottscheer Siedlungen – Ortsnamenverzeichnis." In ''Das Jahrhundertbuch der Gottscheer'' (pp. 181–197). Klagenfurt: Leustik. Gottschee German: ''Autbinkl'') 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 the

Municipality of Loški Potok The Municipality of Loški Potok (; sl, Občina Loški Potok) is a municipality in southern Slovenia. It is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region. The municipal administr ...

in southern

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 ...

, next to the border with

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. The area is part of the traditional region of

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( sl, Dolenjska; german: Unterkrain) is a traditional region in Slovenia, the southeastern part of the historical Carniola region. Geography Lower Carniola is delineated by the Ljubljana Basin with the city of Ljubljana to the no ...

and is now included in the

Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region The Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region ( sl, Jugovzhodna Slovenija statistična regija) is a statistical region in southeast Slovenia. It is the largest statistical region. The development of this region is largely the result of industry (the au ...

. It consists of the hamlets of Binkl, Kurja Vas ( sl, Kurja vas), Pri Ambrožiču, Hrib, and Preska (german: Preiche). The main road from Lazec to Prezid runs through the village.Savnik, Roman, ed. 1971. ''Krajevni leksikon Slovenije'', vol. 2. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, p. 244.

Name

The Slovene name ''Stari Kot'' and the German name ''Altwinkel'' are semantically equivalent, both meaning 'old closed

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

', referring to the end of a valley where it meets the mountains. The designation 'old' (''Stari'', ''Alt-'') distinguishes the settlement from

Novi Kot Novi Kot (; german: Neuwinkel''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 34.) is a dispersed settlement in the Municipality of Loški Potok in so ...

(german: Neuwinkel) (literally, 'new closed valley.'). Traditionally, the people of Stari Kot and Novi Kot were nicknamed ''Bajtarji'' (literally, 'tenant farmers'), but this nickname is rarely used today.

History

Oral tradition indicates that Stari Kot was founded around 1700. The village had 32 houses in 1770 and had a minority Gottschee German population. The men traditionally performed seasonal work in the forests of Croatia, Hungary, and elsewhere. A part-time school was founded in the village in 1904, and a separate school building was built in 1910. During the Second World War, on 19 April 1942 the men of the village joined the Partisans en masse. On 29 July 1942 Italian forces burned the entire village and removed the population to concentration camps. After the war some of the villagers settled in neighboring villages and others rebuilt their houses with the assistance of the recovery association in Draga. The prewar/postwar number of houses in the village's hamlets were Binkl (11/6), Kurja Vas (4/2), Pri Ambrožiču (3/2), Hrib (2/1), and Preska (2/1).

Church

The local

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

is built on a hill west of the village next to the

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

. It is dedicated to

Saint Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December 1 ...

and belongs to the

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Draga. It is a late

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

building that contains three 19th-century wooden

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

s.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 1793 It was consecrated before 1740, but the building's current architecture dates from circa 1900. It has a single entry through the bell tower. The church is registered as cultural heritage.

Other cultural heritage

In addition to the church, two other structures in Stari Kot are registered as cultural heritage: * There is a roadside chapel in the western part of the village. It is a square structure with a metal gabled roof. The entrance is accentuated with

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s and an arched door casing. It dates from the first half of the 20th century. *A monument to two unknown Partisans that fell in 1943 stands in the village cemetery, surrounding the church. The monument was erected in 1966 in the southwest corner of the cemetery. It is a stone pyramid with a stylized representation of

Mount Triglav Triglav (; german: Terglau; it, Tricorno), with an elevation of , is the highest mountain in Slovenia and the highest peak of the Julian Alps. The mountain is the pre-eminent symbol of the Slovene nation. It is the centrepiece of Triglav Nati ...

and it has a granite plaque with an inscription.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 22546

References

External links

Stari Kot on Geopedia
{{Authority control Populated places in the Municipality of Loški Potok