Semič (; ,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna. formerly also Semenič) is a settlement in southeastern

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 ...

. It is the administrative seat of the Municipality of Semič.

Geography

The settlement is located in the traditional region of

White Carniola White Carniola (; ; or ''Weiße Mark'') is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia. Due to its smallness, it is often considered a subunit of the broader Lower Carniola region, although with distinctive cultural, l ...

(''Bela krajina'', part of

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region in 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 an ...

) and the

Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region The Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region () is a statistical region in southeast Slovenia. It is the largest statistical region. The development of this region is largely the result of industry (the auto industry, pharmaceuticals, and other light ...

. It lies between the Kočevje Rog Plateau and the Gorjanci Mountains to the northeast. The slopes of the Gorjanci Mountains are used for wine growing. Semič is the site of an Iskra Kondenzatorji

capacitor In electrical engineering, a capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy by accumulating electric charges on two closely spaced surfaces that are insulated from each other. The capacitor was originally known as the condenser, a term st ...

production plant, the largest employer in the region. In the 1980s the improper handling of PCB waste material led to serious pollution of nearby Krupa Creek and caused a major environmental scandal.

Hamlets

Semič contains a large number of hamlets, some of which used to be independent settlements. These include Coklovca, Gaber pri Semiču, Gora, Kašča, Kot pri Semiču (), Krč, Mladica, Podturn, Sadinja Vas (''Sodinsdorf''), Sela pri Semiču (''Sela bei Heiligengeist''), Trata, Vavpča Vas (''Amtmannsdorf''), Vrh, and Vrtača pri Semiču. The name of the hamlet of Gaber, in the southwest part of the settlement, was changed to Gaber pri Semiču in 1953.''Spremembe naselij 1948–95''. 1996. Database. Ljubljana: Geografski inštitut ZRC SAZU, DZS. The name of the former village of Sela pri Svetem Duhu (literally, 'Sela by the Holy Spirit') in the east-central part of settlement was changed to Sela pri Semiču (literally, 'Sela by Semič') in 1955. The name was changed on the basis of the 1948 Law on Names of Settlements and Designations of Squares, Streets, and Buildings as part of efforts by Slovenia's postwar communist government to remove religious elements from toponyms. Sela pri Semiču ceased to exist as an independent settlement in 2001, when it was annexed by Semič.

History

The settlement was first mentioned in the 13th century, when White Carniola down to the Kolpa River was colonised by Slovene and German (

Gottschee Gottschee (, ) refers to a former German-speaking region in Carniola, a crownland of the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg Empire, part of the historical and traditional region of Lower Carniola, now in Slovenia. The region has been a county, duchy, di ...

) peasants. It gets its name from Semenič Castle, which used to stand on a hill above the settlement. The Semič parish church is dedicated to

Saint Stephen Stephen (; ) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity."St ...

and belongs to the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Novo Mesto The Diocese of Novo Mesto (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the city of Novo Mesto in the ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ljubljana, Ljubljana in Slovenia. History * April 7, 2006: Established as ...

. It was first mentioned in written sources dating to 1228. Part of the Carniolan county of Metlika, Semič was part of the Imperial

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola (, , ) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under House of Habsburg, Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A hereditary land of the Habsburg monarc ...

from 1364 onwards. Incorporated into the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

, it was attacked by Ottoman forces several times; the settlement and its

fortified church A fortified church is a church that is built to serve a defensive role in times of war. Such church (building), churches were specially designed to incorporate military features, such as thick walls, battlements, and embrasures. Others, such as t ...

were completely destroyed in 1547 With Carniola, Semič became part of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

(Yugoslavia) in 1918. It was the location of a

Yugoslav Partisan The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

base and airfield in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, from where Allied airmen and escaped and freed prisoners of war were airlifted to safety, led by Ralph Churches.

References

External links

*
Semič on Geopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semic Populated places in the Municipality of Semič