Valterski Vrh () is a small settlement in the

Municipality of Škofja Loka The Municipality of Škofja Loka (; sl, Občina Škofja Loka) is a municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Škofja Loka. The municipality was established in its current form on 3 October ...

in the

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( sl, Gorenjska; it, Alta Carniola; german: Oberkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jeseni ...

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 ...

Geography

Valterski Vrh stands next to Golec Hill () on a ridge between the valleys of Sovpat (or Sopot) Creek to the west and Hill Creek (''Hribovska grapa'') to the east. The core of the settlement, with the church, is known as ''V hribih'' 'in the hills'. Small farms belonging to the village lie on the slope and in the valley of Sovpat Creek. Polhovec Hill () rises to the east, and unpaved roads connect the village to Log nad Škofjo Loko and Staniše.

Name

Valterski Vrh is also known as ''Sveta Filip in Jakob v Hribih'' 'Saints Phillip and James in the Hills', after the patrons of the village church. The name of the village was recorded as ''Chribu'' around 1490, ''Walterskivrch'' in 1500, ''Balterskhiwurch'' in 1560, and ''Waltersskhiuorch'' in 1584. In the local dialect, the name has been reworked (via folk etymology) into ''Bajtarski Vrh'' (literally, 'tenant farmer's peak'). The name ''Valterski Vrh'' is equivalent to the metathesized name '' Lavtarski Vrh'', a village to the north-northeast.

History

During the

Second World War 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, there was a Partisan base at Polhovec Hill in the summer of 1941. Engagements took place between the Partisans and German forces near the village in December 1941. On 29 December 1941, German forces shot the owner and farmhand at the Jakobec (a.k.a. Jekopec) farm for storing munitions for the Partisans, and then burned the farm the following day.

Church

The church in the settlement is dedicated to Saints Phillip and

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

. It is Late

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

with a star vaulted

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

. Frescos in the sanctuary are by

Jernej of Loka Jernej of Loka (Bartholomew) was a 16th-century Painting, painter active in the Škofja Loka area, from which his epithet is also derived. He is known to have painted the frescoes in a number of other churches throughout the Upper Carniola region a ...

and date to soon after 1534. There is a fresco of Saint Christopher on the south external wall that was restored in 2004. The main

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 ...

dates to 1668 and the side altars are from 1648 and 1838.Škofja Loka municipal declaration of local churches as cultural monuments, 23 May 2007

References

External links

*
Valterski Vrh on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Škofja Loka {{ŠkofjaLoka-geo-stub