Vrtovče () is a small

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the hills south of the

Vipava Valley The Vipava Valley (; , , ) is a valley in the Slovenian Littoral, roughly between the village of Podnanos to the east and the border with Italy to the west. The main towns are Ajdovščina and Vipava. Geography The narrow valley of the Vipav ...

in the

Municipality of Ajdovščina The Municipality of Ajdovščina (; ) is a municipality with a population of a little over 19,000 located in the Vipava Valley, southwestern Slovenia. The municipality was established in 1994. Its seat is in the town of Ajdovščina. , its mayor ...

in the

Littoral The littoral zone, also called litoral or nearshore, is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely i ...

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

Vrtovče consists of the main village core and the smaller hamlet of Lisjaki (also known as ''Lisjaki na Hribu'') to the southeast. Nearby elevations include Školj Hill () to the west, Sharp Peak (''Ostri vrh'', ) to the southeast, and Tibot Hill () to the south. Pralo Creek is fed by a spring south of Vrtovče; the site is known as Pri Studencu (literally, 'at the spring'). The name ''Pralo'' comes from the verb ''prati'' 'to wash' because the clean water of the creek was used for laundering.Bačar, Stanislav. 2010. ''Naravna in kulturna dediščina ob koritu pod Vrtovčami''. Information sign posted at Pri Studencu. Ajdovščina: Municipality of Ajdovščina.

Cultural heritage

A reservoir and water trough were built at Pri Studencu in 1903 to supply workers building the section of the

Bohinj Railway The Bohinj Railway (, , ) is a railway in Slovenia and Italy. It connects Jesenice in Slovenia with Trieste in Italy. It was built by Austria-Hungary from 1900 to 1906 as a part of a new strategic railway, the Neue Alpenbahnen, that would conn ...

between

Dornberk Dornberk (; ) is a village in western Slovenia in the Municipality of Nova Gorica. It is located in the Vipava Valley within the ''Goriška'' region of the Slovenian Littoral. Dornberk is the centre of a local community that includes the satellite ...

and

Štanjel Štanjel (; ) is a village in the Municipality of Komen in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It is located on the Karst Plateau overlooking the Vipava Valley. In the 17th century it was fortified to defend it against Ottoman raids. It was heavily ...

. Tibot Hill is named after Saint Theobald; there are ruins of a church dedicated to saint on the hill.

References

External links

*
Vrtovče on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Ajdovščina {{Ajdovščina-geo-stub