Vipavski Križ (; it, Santa Croce di Aidussina) is a settlement on a small hill in the

Vipava Valley The Vipava Valley (; sl, Vipavska dolina, german: Wippachtal, it, Valle del Vipacco) is a valley in the Slovenian Littoral, roughly between the village of Podnanos to the east and the border with Italy to the west. The main towns are Ajdovš ...

in the

Municipality of Ajdovščina The Municipality of Ajdovščina (; sl, Občina Ajdovščina) is a municipality with a population of a little over 19,000 located in the Vipava Valley, southwestern Slovenia. The municipality was established in 1994. Its seat is in the town of Aj ...

in the

Littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...

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 ...

. There is evidence of habitation on the hill in the pre-Roman period. The settlement was first mentioned in written documents dating to the 13th century. The houses in the village are clustered inside a defence wall around a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

from the late 15th century. It was built to protect the residents against Ottoman raids. In 1532 Vipavski Križ was declared a town. In 1636 a Capuchin

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

with a rich

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

was founded in the town and it is now open to visitors.

Name

The name of the settlement was changed from ''Sveti Križ'' (literally, 'holy cross') to ''Vipavski Križ'' (literally, 'Vipava cross') 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.

Parish church

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the settlement is dedicated to the

Exaltation of the Cross In the Christian liturgical calendar, there are several different Feasts of the Cross, all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus. Unlike Good Friday, which is dedicated to the passion of Christ and the crucifixion, these ...

and belongs to the

Diocese of Koper ) , cocathedral = Co-Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Nova Gorica() , area_km2 = 4,386 , parishes = 100 , population = 266,403 , population_as_of = 2013 , catholics = 181,230 , catholics_percent= 68 , pope ...

.Koper Diocese list of churches
/ref>

Notable people

Tobia Lionelli Tobia Lionelli (1647 – 17 October 1714) was a Slovene–Italian preacher and writer in the Baroque period. His sermons had a crucial role in the affirmation of Slovene as a language. He is also known by his monastic name John Baptist o ...

( sl, Janez Svetokriški; 1647–1714), Slovene preacher *

Rudolf Perhinek Rudolf Perhinek (pseudonym Rade Perišin; or čiča Rade 23 June 1906 – 5 August 1982) was Yugoslav military officer with the rank of Captain in the Royal Yugoslav Army who, soon after the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, joined Chetniks of Dragosl ...

(1906–1982), Yugoslav military officer, Chetnik

References

External links

*
Vipavski Križ at Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Ajdovščina {{Ajdovščina-geo-stub