Uršna Sela (; sl, Uršna sela) is a settlement south of

Novo Mesto Novo Mesto (; sl, Novo mesto; also known by other alternative names) is a city on a bend of the Krka River in the City Municipality of Novo Mesto in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered t ...

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, an ...

. The

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

from

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

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 Municip ...

runs through the settlement. 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 ...

Name

Uršna Sela was attested in written sources in 1477 as ''Werschndorff''. The Slovene name was originally ''Vršna sela'' (literally, 'summit village'). The medieval transcription and the older Slovene name confirm that the name is derived from the Slovene common noun ''vrh'' 'peak, summit', referring to the location of the village at the intersection of three roads on a rise between Novo Mesto, Dolenjske Toplice, and Semič.

Mass grave

Uršna Sela is the site of a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...

from the Second World War. The Mihovec Cave Mass Grave ( sl, Grobišče Mihovska jama), also known as the Mihovec Chasm above Šuštarček Meadow Mass Grave (), is located about southwest of Mihovec, on the north slope of Linden Peak () on the Radoha Plateau. A

Partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

unit shot 14 to 17 Slovenes in front of the cave between October 21 and 23, 1943 and threw their bodies into the cave. The names of nine victims are known and are engraved on a memorial cross at the site.

Churches

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 ...

, built on the southern outskirts of the village, is dedicated to the Holy Cross 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 Toplice. It was built in the first half of the 17th century. A second church is built on Ljuben Hill north of the settlement. It is dedicated to

Saint Vitus Vitus (), whose name is sometimes rendered Guy or Guido, was a Christian martyr from Sicily. His surviving hagiography is pure legend. The dates of his actual life are unknown.Basil Watkins, ''The Book of Saints: A Comprehensive Biographical D ...

and belongs to the

of Novo Mesto–Šmihel. It was first mentioned in written documents dating to 1477 and was refurbished in the

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 ...

style in the 18th century.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 2087

References

External links

Uršna Sela on Geopedia
Populated places in the City Municipality of Novo Mesto {{NovoMesto-geo-stub