Semič (; german: Semitsch,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna. formerly also Semenič) is a settlement in southeastern

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, and ...

. It is the administrative seat of the Municipality of Semič.

Geography

The settlement is located in the traditional region of

White Carniola White Carniola ( sl, Bela krajina; german: Weißkrain or ''Weiße Mark'') is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia. Due to its smallness, it is often considered a subunit of the broader Lower Carniola region, alt ...

(''Bela krajina'', part 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 n ...

) and 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 lies between the Kočevje Rog Plateau and the Gorjanci range of the

Žumberak Mountains The Žumberak Mountains ( hr, Žumberačka gora, sl, Gorjanci, historic German name: ) is a range of hills and mountains in northwestern Croatia and southeastern Slovenia, extending from the southwest to the northeast between the Krka and the K ...

to the northeast. The slopes of the Gorjanci Hills are used for wine growing. Semič is the site of an

Iskra ''Iskra'' ( rus, Искра, , ''the Spark'') was a political newspaper of Russian socialist emigrants established as the official organ of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). History Due to political repression under Tsar Nicho ...

Kondenzatorji

capacitor A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy in an electric field by virtue of accumulating electric charges on two close surfaces insulated from each other. It is a passive electronic component with two terminals. The effect of ...

production plant, the largest employer in the region. In the 1980s the improper handling of PCB waste material led to serious pollution of nearby Krupa Creek and caused a major environmental scandal.

Hamlets

Semič contains a large number of hamlets, some of which used to be independent settlements. These include Coklovca, Gaber pri Semiču, Gora, Kašča, Kot pri Semiču (german: Winkel), Krč, Mladica, Podturn, Sadinja Vas (''Sodinsdorf''), Sela pri Semiču (''Sela bei Heiligengeist''), Trata, Vavpča Vas (''Amtmannsdorf''), Vrh, and Vrtača pri Semiču. The name of the hamlet of Gaber, in the southwest part of the settlement, was changed to Gaber pri Semiču in 1953.''Spremembe naselij 1948–95''. 1996. Database. Ljubljana: Geografski inštitut ZRC SAZU, DZS. The name of the former village of Sela pri Svetem Duhu (literally, 'Sela by the Holy Spirit') in the east-central part of settlement was changed to Sela pri Semiču (literally, 'Sela by Semič') in 1955. The name was changed on the basis of the 1948 Law on Names of Settlements and Designations of Squares, Streets, and Buildings as part of efforts by Slovenia's postwar communist government to remove religious elements from toponyms. Sela pri Semiču ceased to exist as an independent settlement in 2001, when it was annexed by Semič.

History

The settlement was first mentioned in the 13th century, when White Carniola down to the

Kolpa The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from la, Colapis in Roman times; hu, Kulpa) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with its border part having a length of and th ...

River was colonised by Slovene and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

(

Gottschee Gottschee (, sl, Kočevsko) refers to a former German-speaking region in Carniola, a crownland of the Habsburg Empire, part of the historical and traditional region of Lower Carniola, now in Slovenia. The region has been a county, duchy, distric ...

) peasants. It gets its name from Semenič Castle, which used to stand on a hill above the settlement. The Semič parish church is dedicated to

Saint Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

and belongs to the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Novo Mesto The Roman Catholic Diocese of Novo Mesto ( la, Dioecesis Novae Urbis; sl, Škofija Novo mesto) is a diocese in the city of Novo Mesto in the Ecclesiastical province of Ljubljana in Slovenia. History * April 7, 2006: Established as Diocese of ...

. It was first mentioned in written sources dating to 1228. Part of the Carniolan county of

Metlika Metlika (; german: Möttling''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 10.) is a town in southeastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Munici ...

, Semič was part of the Imperial

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola ( sl, Vojvodina Kranjska, german: Herzogtum Krain, hu, Krajna) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A ...

from 1364 onwards. Incorporated into the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

, it was attacked by Ottoman forces several times; the settlement and its

fortified church A fortified church is a church that is built to serve a defensive role in times of war. Such churches were specially designed to incorporate military features, such as thick walls, battlements, and embrasures. Others, such as the Ávila Cathedra ...

were completely destroyed in 1547 With Carniola, Semič became part of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

(Yugoslavia) in 1918. It was the location of a

Yugoslav Partisan The Yugoslav Partisans, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...

base and airfield in

World War II 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, from where Allied airmen and escaped and freed prisoners of war were airlifted to safety, led by Ralph Churches.

References

External links

Semič at Geopedia

Semič municipal site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semic Populated places in the Municipality of Semič