Črnomelj (; in older sources also ''Černomelj'', ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 4.) is a town in southeastern

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. It is the seat of the

Municipality of Črnomelj The Municipality of Črnomelj (; ) is a Municipalities of Slovenia, municipality in southeastern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Črnomelj. The municipality is at the heart of the area of White Carniola, the southeastern part ...

. It lies on the left bank of the

Lahinja The Lahinja is a river in White Carniola, the extreme southeastern part of Slovenia. It is long and originates from several karst springs at the end of a steephead valley between the villages of Knežina, Belčji Vrh, and Mali Nerajec. In ...

and Dobličica rivers. The municipality is at the heart of the area of

White Carniola White Carniola (; ; or ''Weiße Mark'') is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia. Due to its smallness, it is often considered a subunit of the broader Lower Carniola region, although with distinctive cultural, l ...

, the southeastern part of the traditional region of

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region in Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south an ...

. It is now included in the

Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region The Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region () is a statistical region in southeast Slovenia. It is the largest statistical region. The development of this region is largely the result of industry (the auto industry, pharmaceuticals, and other light ...

. It includes the hamlets of Čardak, Kočevje, Kozji Plac, Loka, and Nova Loka.

Name

Črnomelj was first attested in written sources in 1228 as ''Schirnomel'' (and as ''Zernomel'' in 1263, ''Zermenli'' in 1277, and ''Tscherneml'' in 1490). The name is derived from ''*Čьrnomľь'', based on the

hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek ; sometimes also ''hypocoristic''), or pet name, is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for Isabel or ''Bob (given name), Bob'' fo ...

''*Čьrnomъ'', thus originally meaning 'Črnom's settlement'. In the modern German the name was ''Tschernembl''. Until 1918, the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

postal service used the bilingual names ''Tschernembl – Černomelj''. The German name alone was used by the postal service before 1867.Klein, Wilhelm. 1967. ''Die postalischen Abstempelungen auf den österreichischen Postwertzeichen-Ausgaben 1867, 1883 und 1890.''

History

Prehistory

Archaeological evidence has shown that the area has been settled since from the late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

onwards with the settlement gradually developing through the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

. The exact year of the destruction of the Iron Age settlement by Romans is not known. Evidence indicates that it was destroyed either during

Octavian Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...

s campaign against the

Illyrians The Illyrians (, ; ) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan populations, alon ...

between 35 and 33 BC,

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

's campaign in Pannonia in 12 to 9 BC, or in the

Great Illyrian revolt The (Latin for ''War of the Batos'') or Great Illyrian Revolt was a military conflict fought in the Roman Empire, Roman province of Illyricum (Roman province), Illyricum in the 1st century AD, in which an alliance of native peoples of the two re ...

of 6 to 9 AD; that is, in the time span between 35 BC and 9 AD.

Middle Ages

It was first mentioned as ''Schirnomel'' in written documents dating to 1228, in a charter issued by the

Patriarch of Aquileia This is a list of bishops and patriarchs of Aquileia in northeastern Italy. For the ecclesiastical history of the diocese, see Patriarchate of Aquileia. From 553 until 698 the archbishops renounced Papal authority as part of the Schism of the T ...

. Before 1277 it 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 rural ...

and developed into a regional center. It was mentioned as a town in 1407, and so it presumably gained

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

prior to that, but it is regularly mentioned as a market even after that. During the 16th century it held an important military position as one of the centers for organizing supplies for the military frontier. After the establishment of

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...

in what is now

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in 1579, it lost that position. Črnomelj was also the home of a powerful noble family of von Tschernembl. Mentioned for the first time in 1267, they gradually achieved important posts in the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

nobility of

Carniola Carniola ( ; ; ; ) 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 still tend to identify with its traditional parts Upp ...

. During the 15th century they expanded their influence and one of the heads of the family, Georg von Tschernembl, held the positions of Captain of Triest and Captain of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

, one of the most important lands of Habsburgs. In the 16th century they joined the Protestant nobility of Inner Austria and in 1564 Hans von Tschernembl sold their numerous holdings in Carniola and moved to

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

. There the most important and known member of the family was born in 1567, Georg Erasmus von Tschernembl, an important political leader of the Protestant nobility of Upper and

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

. After his death in 1626, the family became Catholic again and regained their lost possessions in Upper Austria. The last male member of the family died in 1667, but through numerous female members their bloodline continued into some of the royal houses of today's Europe. They served as an example of ruined nobility of 18th century for the German writer Gottlieb August Crüwell ( de) and his work ''Schönwiesen'', printed in Berlin in 1911.

Modern history

Until 1918, the town was part of the

Austrian monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ( composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it ...

(the Austria side after the

compromise of 1867 The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (, ) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, which was a military and diplomatic alliance of two sovereign states. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereign ...

). It was the seat of the district of the same name, and one of the 11 ''Bezirkshauptmannschaften'' in the province of

Mass grave

Črnomelj is the site of a

mass grave 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 exec ...

associated with the Second World War. The Parish Shed Mass Grave () is located north of town on the edge of a small sinkhole in the woods. It contains the remains of undetermined victims.

Recent

In 2018, Črnomelj was hit with tennis ball–sized hail.

Landmarks

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

in the town is dedicated to

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

and belongs to the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Novo Mesto The Diocese of Novo Mesto (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the city of Novo Mesto in the ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ljubljana, Ljubljana in Slovenia. History * April 7, 2006: Established as ...

. The current building was built in the 17th century on the site of a 13th-century church. There are two other churches in the town. One, dedicated to

Saint Sebastian Sebastian (; ) was an early Christianity, Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this d ...

, is mentioned as a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

in the early 16th century, but was extended into a church in 1646 after an outbreak of the plague. It was restored in 1904 and in 1963. The second is dedicated to the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

and is a Gothic building first mentioned in documents dating to 1487, but frequently restyled, most recently in 1895. It is built on top of prehistoric and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

occupation layers This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains. A B C D E F ...

.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference numbers 1741 and 1742 A monument in the town is dedicated to fallen Partisans. It stands on a small hill called Griček. It is the work of Marko Župančič with sculptures by Jakob Savinšek.

Gallery

File:Črnomelj - sv. Peter 1.jpg, St. Peter's Parish Church File:Cerkev sv. Duha Črnomelj.jpg, Holy Spirit Church File:Crnomelj-train station.jpg, Črnomelj railway station File:Doblicica-Lahinja-Crnomelj.JPG, A road bridge before the confluence of

Dobličica The Dobličica is a stream in White Carniola. It is part of a karst aquifer. Due to its geological and hydrological characteristics and urbanization of the area, it is considered sensitive and subject to pollution. Geography The Dobličica has it ...

Creek and the

Culture

The town is home to Slovenian football club

Bela Krajina Črnomelj Nogometni klub Bela Krajina or simply NK Bela Krajina was a Slovenian Association football, football club based in the town of Črnomelj. History The club was founded on 17 November 1930 as ''Športni klub Bela krajina'' or simply SKB. They pla ...

Notable people

Jasmin Kurtić Jasmin Kurtić (born 10 January 1989) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Club career Early career A right-footed midfielder, Kurtić joined the 1. SNL club Gorica in August 2010 from the 2. SNL club Bela ...

(born 1989) footballer

References

External links

*
Črnomelj on GeopediaČrnomelj municipal site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crnomelj Populated places in the Municipality of Črnomelj Cities and towns in White Carniola