Podsmreka (; in older sources also ''Podsmreko'',''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 106. ''Intelligenzblatt zur Laibacher Zeitung'', no. 141. 24 November 1849, p. 20.) is a village south of Dobrova in the

Municipality of Dobrova–Polhov Gradec The Municipality of Dobrova–Polhov Gradec (; ) is a municipality in Slovenia. Its administrative seat is Dobrova, Dobrova–Polhov Gradec, Dobrova. History Originally, according to the ''Establishment of Municipalities and Municipal Boundaries ...

in the

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 ...

Geography

Podsmreka lies on a

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

on the road from Dobrova to

Brezovica pri Ljubljani Brezovica pri Ljubljani (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 104.) is a settlement in the Municipality of Brezovica in central Slovenia ...

. To the west it extends up the ridge known as Fat Hill (), including Kamenščica (or Kamnišca) Hill (461 m) and Kopavnik (or Strmec) Hill (377 m). To the east it extends to the hamlet of Žeje.

Name

Podsmreka was attested in historical sources as ''Sand Mertein'' 'Saint Martin' in 1414 and ''sand Mertten pey der Tannen'' 'Saint Martin by the fir tree' in 1448, among other spellings. The name ''Podsmreka'' is derived from a

prepositional phrase An adpositional phrase is a syntactic category that includes ''prepositional phrases'', ''postpositional phrases'', and ''circumpositional phrases''. Adpositional phrases contain an adposition (preposition, postposition, or circumposition) as he ...

in which the noun has lost its

case ending A grammatical case is a category of nouns and noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and numerals) that corresponds to one or more potential grammatical functions for a nominal group in a wording. In various languages, nominal ...

: ''pod'' 'below' + ''smreka'' 'spruce'. The name therefore means 'below the spruce (forest)' and, like similar names (e.g., ''

Podsmrečje Podsmrečje () is a small settlement on the main road from Ljubljana to Celje in the Municipality of Lukovica in the eastern part of the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central ...

, Smrečno''), originally referred to the local vegetation. The name can also be found spelled ''Podsmereka'' in some sources. Locally the village is also known as ''Šmartno'' 'Saint Martin' because of the local church. In the past it was known as ''Podsmerek'' in German.

History

On 18 November 1942 Italian forces killed a number of hostages from the neighboring settlement of Draževnik below Kamenščica Hill. The economy of the village was traditionally tied to vegetable production, raising livestock, and dairy farming for the market in Ljubljana.

Church

Saint Martin's Church in the village is a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

. It was first mentioned in written sources in 1414.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 1775 It was remodeled in Baroque style after a fire in 1749. It formerly belonged to the Parish of Saint Peter in Ljubljana, but was reassigned to the Parish of Dobrova in 1785. The altars are of unknown age and were reworked by the sculptor Leopold Gecelj in 1872. At the end of the 19th century the church possessed two chalices, one dating from 1573 and another of presumably equal age. The bell tower of the church was octagonal until 1856, when it was torn down and rebuilt larger for a new bell. The walled area around the church probably contained a cemetery at one time because the parish church in Ljubljana was too far away and the nearest cemetery, in Dobrova, was in another parish. The main altar was created by the stonemason Alojz Vodnik from Podutik in 1902.

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Podsmreka include: *Ivan (Ivo) Erbežnik (1881–1960), painter *John Plevnik (1873–1938), pastor of Saint Joseph's Parish,

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County, Illinois, Will County. It had a population of ...

Belden, David A. 2008. ''Joliet''. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, p. 64.

Gallery

File:Shrine in Podsmreka Slovenia.JPG,

Wayside shrine A wayside shrine is a religious image, usually in some sort of small shelter, placed by a road or pathway, sometimes in a settlement or at a crossroads, but often in the middle of an empty stretch of country road, or at the top of a hill or mount ...

in Podsmreka

References

External links

*
Podsmreka on Geopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Podsmreka, Dobrova-Polhov Gradec Populated places in the Municipality of Dobrova-Polhov Gradec