Pivka (, german: St. Peter in Krain, it, San Pietro del Carso) is a small town in

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, and ...

in the Pivka Basin in the

Karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, Dolomite (rock), dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathe ...

region. It is the seat of the Municipality of Pivka. It belongs to the traditional region of

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 ...

Name

Pivka was first mentioned in 1300 as ''villa Sancti Petri super Piucha'' ('St. Peter above the

Pivka River The Pivka is a karst lost river in Slovenia. The river is in length. The Pivka ends in Planina Cave, where it merges with the Rak River and then the Unica River. The confluence of the Pivka and the Rak is one of the largest subterranean conflue ...

'), and in 1498 as ''Sannt Peter''. The name of the settlement was changed from ''Šent Peter na Krasu'' (literally, 'Saint Peter in the Karst') to ''Pivka'' in 1952. 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. Before it replaced the original name of the settlement, the name ''Pivka'' originally referred to the Pivka River. This name was first attested in 1300 as ''Piuca'' or ''Piucha'' (and as ''Peucha'' in 1335). The name is derived from the Slovene common noun ''pivka'' 'karst

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

History

Although the Pivka region has been a strategically important location since ancient times, it became even more important with the construction of the railway from

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...

(the

Austrian Southern Railway The Austrian Southern Railway (german: link=no, Österreichische Südbahn) is a long double track railway, which linked the capital Vienna with Trieste, former main seaport of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, by railway for the first time. It no ...

) in 1857 and the railway from Št. Peter na Krasu to

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Prim ...

twenty years later. In 1930, while it was under the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

control, the strategic hills over the town were heavily fortified and included in the Alpine Wall system of defenses, which stretched from the Bay of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

to the

Kvarner Gulf The Kvarner Gulf (, or , la, Sinus Flanaticus or ), sometimes also Kvarner Bay, is a bay in the northern Adriatic Sea, located between the Istrian peninsula and the northern Croatian Littoral mainland. The bay is a part of Croatia's internal ...

. Št. Peter na Krasu and the nearby barracks in Hrastje (now part of the town of Pivka) were one of the strongest points in the eastern section of the Alpine Wall.

Churches

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 town of Pivka is dedicated to

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

and belongs to the Koper Diocese. A second church in the Radohova Vas neighborhood of the town belongs to the same parish and is dedicated to

Saint Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman ...

Museum

The Pivka Military History Park is a museum with heavy weapons, military vehicles, training and fighter aircraft, a helicopter and a Yugoslav ''Una''-class commando submarine.

References

External links

Pivka municipal site
{{Authority control Populated places in the Municipality of Pivka