Soča (, ) is a

dispersed settlement A dispersed settlement, also known as a scattered settlement, is one of the main types of settlement patterns used by landscape historians to classify rural settlements found in England and other parts of the world. Typically, there are a num ...

in the Municipality of Bovec in northwestern

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

Soča is located on the upper

Soča Soča (, in Slovene) or Isonzo (, in Italian; other names: ; ; or ') is a long river that flows through western Slovenia () and northeastern Italy (). An Alpine river in character, its source lies in the Trenta Valley in the Julian Alps ...

River in the

Goriška Goriška () is a historical region in western Slovenia on the border with Italy. It comprises the northern part of the wider traditional region of the Slovenian Littoral (''Primorska''). The name ''Goriška'' is an adjective referring to the city ...

region, the northern part of the Slovene Littoral, on the road from Bovec up to Trenta and the

Vršič Pass The Vršič Pass (; , , ) is a high mountain pass across the Julian Alps in northwestern Slovenia. It is the highest pass in Slovenia, with an elevation of , as well as the highest in the Eastern Julian Alps. It connects Upper Carniola with the ...

. The territory of the village includes scattered farms on various foothills, promontories, and terraces in the narrow valley. Hamlets and farmsteads in the village include Brvca (a.k.a. Jezerca), Črč, Gorenja Soča, Lemovje, Log, Mišja Vas, Na Skali, Pod Bregom, Pod Skalo, Podklanec, Pri Kumerčih, V Klancu, Vršičem, and Vrsnik. To the northwest, the valley rises steeply to Mount Bavšica Grintavec () and Little Mount Grintavec (). To the southeast, the valley rises more gradually to a plateau region.

Name

The settlement is named after the Soča River. The name ''Soča'' is derived from the form ''*Sǫťa'', which was borrowed from Latin (and Romance) ''Sontius''. In turn, this is probably based on the

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (aquatic environment), the earthy material that exi ...

name ''*Aisontia'', presumably derived from the

PIE A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), fruit preserves ( jam tart ...

root ''*'' 'swift, rushing', referring to a quickly moving river. Another possible origin is the pre-Romance root ''*'' 'water, river'.

History

In antiquity the area was settled by Illyarians and

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

until the Romans conquered the area. After the fall of the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

it was ruled by

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

, and Byzantines. In the 6th century

South Slavs South Slavs are Slavic people who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, ...

settled in the area. In the Middle Ages, the area south of the pass was ruled by the

Patriarchs of Aquileia The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in ...

, later by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

and the

March of Verona March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 21 ...

, until the estates were incorporated into the Inner Austrian lands under

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

Emperor Maximilian I in 1509. The area was part of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

after the First World War. It was awarded to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

after the Second World War. During the war, the area was controlled by Slovenian Partisans after the Italian surrender. Partisan hospitals operated in the village and it came under attack from German forces stationed in Bovec.

Church

A small church by the roadside in the village is dedicated to

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

and was built in 1718 and dedicated in 1823. In 1944 it was refurbished and painted by

Tone Kralj Tone Kralj (23 August 1900 – 9 September 1975) was a Slovene sculptor and painter also known for his wall paintings and illustrations. Kralj was born in Zagorica near Dobrepolje in Lower Carniola in 1900. He studied sculpture in Prague bet ...

. The refurbishment was a political statement and he included a scene of

Archangel Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second ...

fighting the

Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

, in which

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his overthrow in 194 ...

are shown as enemies, fighting on the side of the Devil. He also used the Slovene

national colours National colours are frequently part of a country's set of national symbols. Many states and nations have formally adopted a set of colours as their official "national colours" while others have '' de facto'' national colours that have become well ...

(red, white, and blue) in the interior and, apart from the Apostles and the

Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

, used only Slavic

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

s in the iconography. Behind the church, the Sοča Military Cemetery is a burial ground for Austrian soldiers that died on the Isonzo front.Bovec municipal site
/ref>

References

External links

*
Soča on Geopedia

Populated places in the Municipality of Bovec {{Bovec-geo-stub