Zreče (; german: Rötschach bei Gonobitz) is a town in northeast

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 ...

and is the seat of the Municipality of Zreče. It lies on the slopes of

Pohorje Pohorje (), also known as the Pohorje Massif or the Pohorje Mountains (german: Bachergebirge, ''Bacherngebirge'' or often simply ''Bachern''), is a mostly wooded, medium-high mountain range south of the Drava River in northeastern Slovenia. Acco ...

in the upper valley of the

Dravinja The Dravinja (german: Drann, ) is the largest tributary of the Drava River in Slovenia. It is long. Its source is on the Pohorje Massif southwest of Mount Rogla about 1,150 m above sea level. The river passes Zreče, the town of Slovenske Konji ...

River. The area is part of the traditional region of

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 is now included in 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 ...

. The economy is centred on

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

, especially in the winter months with the ski resort at Rogla. A proportion of the population is also employed in agriculture. Its main businesses are the tool and car parts manufacturer Unior, the manufacturer Weiler Abrasives, and the tourism spa company Unitur.

Geography

Zreče is located northeast of

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, from

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava sta ...

, from

Celje ) , pushpin_map = Slovenia , pushpin_label_position = left , pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city of Celje in Slovenia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Cou ...

and from

Slovenske Konjice Slovenske Konjice ( or ; german: Gonobitz, in older sources also ''Gannobitz'') is a town in northeastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Slovenske Konjice. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. History and town s ...

History

Archaeological evidence The archaeological record is the body of physical (not written) evidence about the past. It is one of the core concepts in archaeology, the academic discipline concerned with documenting and interpreting the archaeological record. Archaeological th ...

from the area has pointed to

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

settlement of the area. The earliest written sources date to the end of the 10th century, when the area was divided into a number of ecclesiastical and secular domains. Zreče became a single settlement in 1987, when the villages of Zgornje Zreče (german: Oberrötschach or ), Spodnje Zreče (german: Unterrötschach or ), and Nova Dobrava (known as Dobrava until 1953) were united.

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 Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

( sl, Sveti Egidij) and belongs to the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor ( la, Archidioecesis Mariborensis, sl, Nadškofija Maribor) is an archdiocese located in the city of Maribor in Slovenia. History * 1859 : Maribor (then Marburg) became the see of the Diocese of Lavant ...

. It dates to the 14th century with 18th and 19th century side

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

s. Two churches on Mount Juniper () to the east of the settlement belong to the same parish. They are dedicated to Saint Agnes ( sl, Sveta Neža), built between 1726 and 1732, and to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, built in 1769.

Tourism

The Rogla ski and health resort has become increasingly important to the local economy through tourism, which employs around half of the population. There are many hotels, self-catering units, holiday houses, and villas in the area and gymnasiums, health clinics, saunas, and massage parlors. The Rogla resort is most active from the beginning of December through mid March and has 13 slopes for skiers of all abilities. Tourism at Zreče Pohorje ( sl, Zreško Pohorje) began to develop before 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 ...

. The first

observation tower An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...

on Rogla was built in 1934. Many of the tourist facilities were destroyed during the war. The Koča Lodge on Rogla was rebuilt in 1956. It was managed by the Zreče mountaineering society until 1972, when it was taken over and renovated by Unior, a local company that produces hand tools. The company has become one of the biggest companies on its field in Europe and its management has had a continued interest in the development of all of Zreče and the Rogla area. In 1974 Unior's management commissioned studies for the development of Rogla as a ski resort. The road leading to the peak was also widened. The first

ski lift A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald. Types * Aerial ...

s handling up to 900 skiers per hour were built. Rogla cross country skiing world cup 2009

The idea was to develop Rogla together with other tourist centres on Pohorje to offer a complete package with skiing, the spa resort at Zreče and agrotourism in the area. Thus in 1978 construction began on Hotel Dobrava in Zreče and of Hotel Planja on Rogla. Hotel Planja opened in 1980 with new ski lifts. In 1981 hotel Dobrava with 70 beds, a swimming pool and a new athletics-football stadium was completed. In 1981 the Dobrava Hotel with 70 beds, a swimming pool, and a new athletics-football stadium was completed. By the 1990s Rogla had a capacity of over 1,200 beds and ski lifts handling 12,200 skiers per hour. A new Dobrava Hotel with 160 new beds was opened in 2000 and between 2002 and 2004 four new

chairlifts An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...

were constructed and artificial snow systems extended, making Rogla one of the ski centres in Slovenia with the best snow conditions and the longest ski season. In 2005, the town was twinned with Sedbergh in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

, UK. The efforts of Sedbergh to find a twin town were featured in a BBC documentary, ''The Town That Wants A Twin'' and Zreče was the winning town.Sedbergh official site
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Notable people

* Marijan Osole (1924–2015) general manager of Unior (1968–1992), the founding father of the town of Zreče in its present form

Twin towns

* Sedbergh, (since 2005)

References

External links

Zreče on Geopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zrece Spa towns in Slovenia Populated places in the Municipality of Zreče