Žeje pri Komendi ( or ;
[''Intelligenzblatt zur Laibacher Zeitung'', no. 141. 24 November 1849, p. 19.]) is a village in the
Municipality of Komenda
The Municipality of Komenda (; ) is a municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the village of Komenda.Upper Carniola
Upper Carniola ( ; ; ) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The largest town in the region is Kranj, and other urban centers include Kamnik, Jesenice, Jesenice, Jesenice, Domžale and ...
region of
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 ...
.
Name
The name of the settlement was changed from ''Žeje'' to ''Žeje pri Komendi'' in 1955. The name was first attested in written sources in 1322 as ''Seyach'' (and as ''Seach'' in 1348). The name is derived from the plural
demonym
A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...
''*Žežane'', from the verb ''*žeťi'' 'to burn'. The change ''*Žež-'' > ''*Žej-'' is a result of
dissimilation
In phonology, particularly within historical linguistics, dissimilation is a phenomenon whereby similar consonants or vowels in a word become less similar or elided. In English, dissimilation is particularly common with liquid consonants such ...
. The name refers to people living on burned-over ground. A second possibility is that the name may be derived from some unknown noun related to Slovene ''žeja'' 'thirst', referring to an intermittent spring or dry soil. The settlement was known as ''Scheje'' in German in the past.
History
Roman-era brick has been found near the village, testifying to its settlement in antiquity. A village band was established in Žeje pri Komendi in the mid-18th century, conducted by the composer Jakob Frančišek Zupan (1734–1810). A water main was installed in 1961.
Mass graves
Žeje pri Komendi 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 exec ...
from the period immediately after the Second World War. The graves contain the remains of 10 to 15 prisoners from Kamnik that were murdered in May and June 1945. Their nationality and whether they were soldiers or civilians is unknown. The Kuhar Woods Mass Grave () is located near a path on the edge of a woods north of the main settlement.
The Smovc Mass Grave () is located southwest of the main settlement.
References
External links
*
Žeje pri Komendi on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Komenda
{{Komenda-geo-stub