Močilnik Springs is the best-known source of the

Ljubljanica River The Ljubljanica (), known in the Middle Ages as the ''Leybach'', is a river in the southern part of the Ljubljana Basin in Slovenia. The capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, lies on the river. The Ljubljanica rises south of the town of Vrhnika and ...

Name

The name ''Močilnik'' is derived from the Slovene common noun ''močilnik'' '(hidden)

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

', synonymous with the related word ''močilo'', both derived from the Slavic root ''*mak-'' 'wet, damp'.

Geography

The springs are located at the end of the Močilnik Valley, a

steephead valley A steephead valley, steephead or blind valley is a deep, narrow, flat bottomed valley with an abrupt ending. Such closed valleys may arise in limestone or karst landscapes, where a layer of permeable rock lies above an impermeable substrate such ...

180 m long near

Vrhnika Vrhnika (; ;''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 120. ) is a town in Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Vrhnika. It is locat ...

. Big Močilnik Spring () is found in a pond below the cliffs, and Little Močilnik Spring (), with a smaller flow, lies 50 m further north. They join together to form the Little Ljubljanica River (), which joins the Big Ljubljanica River () after about 1 km, forming the Ljubljanica. The water that surfaces at Močilnik Springs seeps into the ground at the Planina Karst Field and Logatec Karst Field. Not far from Močilnik Springs is Furlan Hot Springs (). It has a constant temperature of about 20 °C.Melik, Anton. 1959. ''Slovenija: Geografski Opis,'' vol. 2, part 3. Ljubljana: Slovenska Matica, p. 167.

Cultural references

There is a plaque in the valley next to Big Močilnik Spring with a quotation from

Ivan Cankar Ivan Cankar (, ) (10 May 1876 – 11 December 1918) was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, poet, and political activist. Together with Oton Župančič, Dragotin Kette, and Josip Murn, he is considered as the beginner of modernism in S ...

's story "Brlinčkov Miha in Tičkov Grega" (Miha from the Brlinček Farm and Grega from the Tiček Farm), describing the spring.

References

External links

*
Močilnik Springs on Geopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mocilnik Springs Municipality of Vrhnika Springs of Slovenia Karst springs