Zavratec (; german: Sauratz''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 124.) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the hills east of

Idrija Idrija (, in older sources ''Zgornja Idrija''; german: (Ober)idria, it, Idria) is a town in western Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Idrija. It is located in the traditional region of Inner Carniola and is in the Gorizia Statistic ...

in the traditional

Inner Carniola Inner Carniola ( sl, Notranjska; german: Innerkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the southwestern part of the larger Carniola region. It comprises the Hrušica karst plateau up to Postojna Gate, bordering the Slovenian Littoral (the ...

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

Zavratec lies in a small valley surrounded by hills above the valley of Sovra Creek to the north. It includes the hamlets of Zgornji Zavratec and Spodnji Zavratec (literally, 'upper Zavratec' and 'lower Zavratec'). Mravljišče Hill () rises southwest of the village. The floor of the valley, where the soil is moister, has meadows, and there are tilled fields on the surrounding slopes. Forested land lies mostly to the west, toward the hamlet of Črna in neighboring

Dole Dole may refer to: Places * Dole, Ceredigion, Wales * Dole, Idrija, Slovenia * Dole, Jura, France ** Arrondissement of Dole * Dole (Kladanj), a village at the entity line of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina-Republika Srpska * Dole, Ljubušk ...

. In the extreme northeast part of the settlement's territory, above Sovra Creek, is a cave known as Matjaž's Chambers ( sl, Matjaževe kamre). The cave has six entrances, and archaeologists have found bones of cave bears and other Ice Age animals in it, as well as tools made by

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While th ...

s (54,000–47,000

YBP Before Present (BP) years, or "years before present", is a time scale used mainly in archaeology, geology and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred relative to the origin of practical radiocarbon dating in the 1950s. Becaus ...

) and ''Homo sapiens'' (17,000–10,000 YBP).

Name

Zavratec was attested as ''Czabratza'' in historical sources in 1500. The etymology of the name is uncertain; it has been suggested that it may be connected to the common noun ''vrata'' 'gate', referring to a narrow passage, or to the hydronym ''Sovra''.

History

During the interwar period, Zavratec was part of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

, close to the border with

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. A dairy operated in the village until 1954, from which cream was sent to Godovič. In 1965 test drilling was carried out near Zavratec in a search for mercury ore.

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 Saint Ulrich and belongs to the

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

. It is a Baroque building dating to 1647 with an octagonal

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

walled on three sides, a wide rectangular nave, and a belfry. The interior of the nave and the chancel are ornamented with frescoes dating to 1713. Additional remodeling took place in 1747.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 4135 The church is surrounded by a cemetery.

Gallery

File:Spodnji Zavratec Slovenia.JPG, The hamlet of Spodnji Zavratec File:Zavratec Slovenia - chapel shrine.JPG, Chapel shrine in Zavratec File:Zavratec SW.jpg, Zavratec With Saint Ulrich's Church

References

External links

*
Zavratec on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Idrija {{Idrija-geo-stub