The Municipality of Žirovnica (; ) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

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 ...

. The seat of the municipality is the village of Breznica. In the Završnica Valley, behind the Reber range that overlooks the villages, the first public hydroelectric plant in Slovenia was built in 1914. In 1952, after building a 60 m dam (the highest dam in Slovenia to date) in the Kavčke Gorge, a second hydroelectric plant opened in nearby Moste. This was the first hydroelectric plant to operate on the

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

River.

Geography

It is located in the traditional

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, on the southern slope of the

Karawanks The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks (; , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of in an east–west direction, the Karawanks chain is o ...

mountain range, along the border with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

(

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

). The municipality borders the municipalities of

Jesenice Jesenice (, ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru'', vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 144.) is the tenth-largest town in Slovenia, located in the traditional province of Upper C ...

to the west,

Bled Bled (; ,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper Carniolan regio ...

and

Radovljica Radovljica (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Slovenia, town in the Upper Carniola region of northern Slovenia. It is the administrative seat of the Municipality of Radovljica. Geography The town is located on the southern slope of the Karawan ...

to the south, and

Tržič Tržič (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Slovenia, town in northern Slovenia, close to the Austrian border. It is the seat of the Municipality of Tržič. Geography The town is located within the historic Upper Carniola region on the Tr ...

to the east as well as

to the north.

Settlements

In addition to the municipal seat of Breznica, the municipality also includes the following settlements: * Breg * Doslovče * Moste * Rodine * Selo pri Žirovnici * Smokuč *

Vrba Vrba ("willow" in several Slavic languages) may refer to: Places Austria * Velden am Wörther See () Bosnia and Herzegovina * Vrba (Glamoč), Bosnia and Herzegovina * Vrba (Gacko), Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro * Vrba, Pljevlja Ser ...

* Zabreznica * Žirovnica

Notable people

A number of figures important to Slovenes come from the Municipality of Žirovnica: the poet

France Prešeren France Prešeren () (3 December 1800 – 8 February 1849) was a 19th-century Romantic Slovene poet whose poems have been translated into many languages.

, the linguist

Matija Čop Matija Čop (; 26 January 1797 – 6 July 1835), also known in German as Matthias Tschop, was a Slovene linguist, polyglot, literary historian and critic. Biography Čop was born in the small northern Carniolan town of Žirovnica, in what ...

, Archbishop Anton Vovk, the pioneering bee-keeper Anton Janša, and the writers Janez Jalen and

Fran Saleški Finžgar Fran Saleški Finžgar (February 9, 1871 – June 2, 1962) was perhaps the most popular Slovenes, Slovene folk writer. He is particularly known for his novels and short stories, although he also wrote poems and plays. Life Fran Saleški Finžgar ...

. Bronze busts of all five have been put up in front of the school in Zabreznica. There is a well-marked trail through the villages called The Cultural Heritage Route. This can be followed to visit certain monuments associated with the above figures (e.g., the houses where Prešeren, Čop, Finžgar, and Jalen were born, all of which are small museums, Janša's beehive) and a number of other historical and cultural monuments in the area.

References

External links

*
Municipality of Žirovnica on GeopediaMunicipality of Žirovnica website
(in Slovene) {{DEFAULTSORT:Municipality of Zirovnica Zirovnica 1998 establishments in Slovenia