Socerb ( or ; in older sources also ''Sacerb'', Italian: ''San Servolo'')Snoj, Marko. 2009. ''Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen''. Ljubljana: Modrijan and Založba ZRC, p. 386. 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 ...

in the

City Municipality of Koper The City Municipality of Koper (; sl, Mestna občina Koper, it, Comune città di Capodistria) is one of twelve city municipalities of Slovenia. It lies at the coastline of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Slovenia and was established in 1994. ...

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 a ...

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 ...

. It lies on the border with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and is dominated by the ruins of Socerb Castle, built on a rocky cliff above the village.

Name

Socerb was attested in written sources in the 14th century as ''propre Sanctum Servulum'' (and in 1763–87 as ''St. Servolo''). The Slovene name is derived from ''*Sǫt-Serb'': a combination of *''sǫt-'' 'saint' (ultimately from Latin ''sanctus'') plus *''Serb'' (from ''Servu(lus)'', the name of a local saint, or from ''

Servus Servus, and various local variants thereof, is a salutation used in many parts of Central and Eastern Europe. It is a word of greeting or parting like the Italian (which also comes from the slave meaning through Venetian ). wiktionary:servus ...

'', a 5th-century martyr in Thuburbo Majus).

History

Following the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Socerb became part of

Free Territory of Trieste The Free Territory of Trieste was an independent territory in Southern Europe between northern Italy and Yugoslavia, facing the north part of the Adriatic Sea, under direct responsibility of the United Nations Security Council in the aftermath ...

. It was ceded to

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

along with several other villages in

Muggia Muggia ( vec, label=Venetian, Triestine dialect, Muja; german: Mulgs; fur, Mugle; sl, Milje) is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the south-west of the Province of Trieste, in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia on the border with Slovenia. Lying ...

in 1954.

Mass graves

Socerb is the site of two known

mass graves A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of executi ...

associated with the Second World War. The Socerb Cave behind Vrh Mass Grave ( sl, Grobišče Socerbska jama za Vrhom) is located in the woods northeast of the village of Kastelec. The floor of the cave is covered with the remains of victims brought from

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 prov ...

and its surroundings and murdered here. The Cave 2 above Socerb Slope Mass Grave () is a shaft in Cesarjevič Common east of Socerb. The fenced entrance to the shaft is in an area sparsely covered in pine. The grave contains the remains of an unknown number of victims. The remains of two victims that were taken from the cave in 1992 were buried in the Koper cemetery in 2004.

Church

The church in the settlement is dedicated to

Saint Servulus Saint Servulus (or Servolo, died ) was a paralyzed beggar who spent all his time praying outside Saint Clement's Church in Rome. His feast day is 23 December. ''Roman Martyrology'' The ''Roman Martyrology'' of 1916 has an entry under the Twent ...

, a local saint that lived in a nearby cave that is also a shrine, known as Holy Cave ( sl, Sveta jama). There is little reliable information about the saint; his feast day is celebrated on 23 December and he is said to have been a lame beggar from Rome that collected alms around Saint Clement's Church and praised God. The church belongs to the

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of Klanec.Roman Catholic Diocese of Koper List of Churches May 2008

Gallery

File:Socerb village.jpg, Socerb, seen from the castle

References

External links

*
Socerb on Geopedia
Populated places in the City Municipality of Koper {{Koper-geo-stub