Muta (; ) is the largest settlement and the centre of the

Carinthia Statistical Region The Carinthia Statistical Region () is a statistical region in northern Slovenia along the border with Austria. The region is difficult to access and is poorly connected with the central part of Slovenia. The environment has been strongly affect ...

of northern

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 ...

. Traditionally, it is part 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 ...

because it was part of the

Duchy of Styria The Duchy of Styria (; ; ) was a duchy located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806 and a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary until its dissolution i ...

. The Muta Bistrica () flows though the town, where it enters the

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

River.

Name

Muta was first attested in written sources in 1255 as ''Muttenberch'' (and as ''Můtenberch'' in 1265–67, ''Moutenberch'' in 1279, ''Maeut'' in 1349, ''Mautenberch'' in 1405, and ''Mawt'' in 1459). The Slovene name is derived from the Slovene common noun ''muta'' 'toll (payment)', derived from

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...

''mûte'' 'toll (payment)'. It therefore refers to a place where tolls were collected.

Mass grave

Muta 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 Croatian Mass Grave () is a cluster of seven locations in the northeast part of the settlement on the bank of the Drava River. It contains the remains of Croatians.

Church

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 settlement is dedicated to Saint Margaret () and belongs to the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor The Archdiocese of Maribor (, ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Slovenia. Its episcopal see is Maribor. History * 1859 : Maribor (then Marburg) became the see of the Diocese of Lavant * ...

. It was first mentioned in written documents dating to 1349. In the 17th century it was extended and widened. There are two other churches in Muta. The church dedicated to

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

in the hamlet of Spodnja Muta in the settlement is an 11th-century Romanesque rotunda with an

Early Gothic Early Gothic is the term for the first period of Gothic architecture which lasted from about 1120 until about 1200. The early Gothic builders used innovative technologies to resolve the problem of masonry ceilings which were too heavy for the t ...

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

added. Fourteenth-century wall paintings survive in the church and the wooden painted ceiling is from the late 16th and early 17th century. The church on the bank of the Drava River in the south of the settlement 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 is a late Romanesque single-nave building from the 13th century with various alterations over the centuries.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number 3199

References

External links

*
Muta on Geopedia
{{Authority control Populated places in the Municipality of Muta