Radeče (; german: Ratschach''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 88–89.) is a small town in the Lower Sava Valley in eastern

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 ...

. It is located in the

Sava Hills The Sava Hills ( sl, Posavsko hribovje) are the eastern part of the Slovene Prealps. They are oriented in the east-west direction and are located to the north and south of the Sava River in central and eastern Slovenia, among the Ljubljana Basi ...

( sl, Posavsko hribovje) on the right bank of the

Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...

River at the confluence with Sopota Creek. It is the seat of the

Municipality of Radeče The Municipality of Radeče (; sl, Občina Radeče) is a municipality in central Slovenia. Its seat is the town of Radeče. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola. It is now included in the Lower Sava Statistical Region T ...

and part of the traditional province of

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( sl, Dolenjska; german: Unterkrain) is a traditional region in Slovenia, the southeastern part of the historical Carniola region. Geography Lower Carniola is delineated by the Ljubljana Basin with the city of Ljubljana to the n ...

. The town and the municipality are now included in the

Lower Sava Statistical Region The Lower Sava Statistical Region ( sl, Posavska statistična regija; until December 31, 2014 ) is a statistical region in Slovenia. It has good traffic accessibility and is located in the Sava and Krka Valleys, with hilly areas with vineyards and ...

; until January 2014 they were part of the

Savinja Statistical Region The Savinja Statistical Region ( sl, Savinjska statistična regija) is a statistical region in Slovenia. The largest town in the region is Celje. It is named after the Savinja River. The region is very diverse in natural geography; it mainly c ...

History

Archaeological finds in the area, including such items as bone tools, cave bear bones, altars to water gods, and an altar to the goddess Adsaluta and god Savus indicate that it has a long history of human occupation. Radeče was first mentioned in written documents dating to 1297. The town was granted

market rights A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small r ...

in 1338. Until 1918, the town was part of the

Austrian monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

(

Cisleithania Cisleithania, also ''Zisleithanien'' sl, Cislajtanija hu, Ciszlajtánia cs, Předlitavsko sk, Predlitavsko pl, Przedlitawia sh-Cyrl-Latn, Цислајтанија, Cislajtanija ro, Cisleithania uk, Цислейтанія, Tsysleitaniia it, Cislei ...

after the

compromise of 1867 The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (german: Ausgleich, hu, Kiegyezés) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungary ...

), in the Gurkfeld ( Krško) district, one of the 11 ''Bezirkshauptmannschaften'' in the province of

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region s ...

. In 1925, Radeče was formally given

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

status by a decree issued by King Alexander. In 1994, it became the seat of the

Landmarks

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 town 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

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ljubljana The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ljubljana ( sl, Nadškofija Ljubljana, la, Archidioecesis Labacensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Slovenia.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 ...

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. ...

of the former church has been incorporated into the new one as a side chapel at its eastern side. The bell tower stands at the western side of the church.

Bridges

An old one-arch

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

road bridge links the town center of Radeče with an old railway station on the other side of the Sava. It was built in the time of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and originally linked the

crown lands Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an Fee tail, entailed Estate (land), estate and passes with the monarchy, be ...

and

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered ...

. It was designed by the Czech architect

Jan Vladimír Hráský Jan Vladimír Hráský (1857–1939) was a Czech architect, builder, engineer, and hydrologist. Hrásky is known in Slovenia as an original author of building in Neo-Renaissance style of Carniolan Provincial Manor in Ljubljana (1899–1902), w ...

. Its construction started in September 1893 and was completed in August 1894. It was open for traffic in June 1894. The

rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched ...

ed bridge is long and wide and originally had a bearing strength of , but was reinforced after World War II. Its steel construction was made by the Griedl company from Vienna, whereas its supporting foundations were made by the builder Tršek from Šmarjeta. Since 1980, when a staircase was added to it on the left bank, it has been used only by pedestrians and cyclists. A new concrete road bridge across the Sava in Radeče stands near Hotemež. It is long and wide. It was constructed by the Ingrad corporation (TOZD Laško branch) and was solemnly opened in December 1980.

Weixelstein Castle

Weixelstein Castle ( sl, DvorSlovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 9686 or ''Novi dvor''Gradovi v Sloveniji: Novi dvor
) stands east of Radeče at Pot na Brod no. 23. It is a four-winged two-story structure with an arcade courtyard. The building mainly dates from the 16th century, and the courtyard from the 17th century. Some wooden ceilings are preserved in the interior. The castle park originally had a geometric pattern, but was redesigned in a landscaped style in the 18th century. The castle's 16th-century owner Johann von Weixelstein sold it to Christoph von Raumschussl (or RambschüsselSavnik, Roman, ed. 1976. ''Krajevni leksikon Slovenije'', vol. 3. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije. p. 194.) in 1595, after which it was owned by the Zetschker family, the Augustinians of Ljubljana, Franz Johann von Amigoni, Anton Gollmayer, the Plusk family, and Ludwig Guttmannsthal-Benvenuti. It was purchased by the Ljubljana-based Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul in 1926. The nuns were evicted by German forces during the Second World War. After the war, the property was nationalized and converted into a reform school.

Economy

The community's development is closely connected to the Sava River because it used to be an important traffic route for water

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

. The confluence of the Sava and Savinja in nearby Zidani Most gave Radeče a role of the central

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrels ...

ing

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

. This tradition is preserved by modern Radeče rafters, who nurture memories of the customs of their

ancestors An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from w ...

at the annual event Rafting Days on the Sava (''Dnevi splavarjenja na Savi''). Radeče has been renowned for its paper industry, and has modern foundations for development in its rich cultural heritage and unspoiled nature. After the paper producer entered bankruptcy proceedings in April 2012, a new company was established in June 2012.

References

External links

*
Radeče
on Geopedia.si (map, aerial photograph)
Radeče on Google Maps
(map, photographs, street view) {{DEFAULTSORT:Radece Populated places in the Municipality of Radeče Cities and towns in Lower Carniola