Verdun () is a small settlement in the foothills of the
Gorjanci range southeast 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 area is part of the traditional region of
Lower Carniola and is now included in the
Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region.
Name
Verdun was attested in written sources in 1367 as ''Wardaun'' (and as ''Werdin'' in 1477, ''Burdin'' in 1490, and ''Verdum'' in 1494). The name ''Verdun'' is derived from the
Romance word ''*(g)uardōne(m)'', based on the
Germanic word ''*wardō'' 'guard'. Although this place name can be understood in a military sense, it is likely that it referred instead to a place where herdsmen guarded their animals.
Cultural heritage
A
burial ground
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 ...
with 254
graves
A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as gravey ...
has been
excavated near the settlement. It dates to the early
Roman period
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
and
artefacts show the increased influence of
Roman culture
The culture of ancient Rome existed throughout the almost 1200-year history of the civilization of Ancient Rome. The term refers to the culture of the Roman Republic, later the Roman Empire, which at its peak covered an area from present-day Lo ...
on the local population.
Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 8624
References
External links
Verdun on Geopedia
Populated places in the City Municipality of Novo Mesto
{{NovoMesto-geo-stub