Misplaced Pages

Radovljica: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 23:53, 18 December 2007 edit86.61.80.58 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit Revision as of 14:43, 19 December 2007 edit undoTone (talk | contribs)Administrators50,439 edits Undid revision 178833092 by 86.61.80.58 (talk) copyvioNext edit →
Line 14: Line 14:
|unemployed=931 |unemployed=931
|salary_date=avgust ] |salary_date=avgust ]
|avg_salary_bruto=920.27€ |avg_salary_bruto=220.890 ]
|avg_salary_neto=590.125€ |avg_salary_neto=141.630 SIT
|students=715}} |students=715}}


'''Radovljica''' is a ] and a ] in the Northern part of ], in the ] region. The municipality has around 18.000 inhabitants and spreads over 118 km². Radovljica is the hometown of dramatist and historian ] and the architect ]. '''Radovljica''' is a ] and a ] in the Northern part of ], in the ] region. The municipality has around 18.000 inhabitants and spreads over 118 km². Radovljica is the hometown of dramatist and historian ] and the architect ].

== Geography ==
The Municipality of Radovljica is part of the Alpine world. Its territory
is split by the Sava river and bordered on the north by the
Karavanke mountain range (the highest peak within the municipality
is Veliki vrh-Begunjscica at 2060 m), on the south-east by the last
part of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps and on the south by the Jelovica
karst plateau. On the left (eastern) bank of Slovenia’s longest river
stretches the Radovljica Plain, known locally as the Dezela (de-ZHElah),
or “The Plain.” The right bank constitutes the area known as Dobrava and the Lipnica brook valley, becoming a karst valley as one
turns towards Kropa. Neighbouring municipalities are Zirovnica,
Trzic, Naklo, Kranj, Zelezniki, Bohinj and Bled. The Radovljica Plain, the Dezela , is an extreme north-west part of the
Ljubljana Basin. The De`ela is a flat, terraced landscape punctuated with hills topped with overgrown forests while the Karst environment
of Dobrava is even more hilly and densely overgrown. <br /><br />The halves of
the municipality are separated by the river Sava. Two tributaries – the
Sava Bohinjka and the Sava Dolinka – come together just below the
town of Radovljica, forming the country’s longest river and the only
one in the municipality. There are also many brooks, many of which
have a torrential character but all of them empty into the Sava.
Although there are no lakes in the municipality (except for a small
made-made lake known as “Sobec Lake” located on the like-named
campground) the aquatic richness of the region is supplemented with
underground brooks, marshland and the Peracica and Sum waterfalls.
The region also offers highly diverse flora and fauna. The exceptionally favourable climate conditions are reflected in the highest
number of sunny days of any region in Gorenjska – both in the warm summer
and in the cool, but not too cold, winter – and in the rather uniform
monthly precipitation. The warmest month is July with an average temperature
of 18°C while the coldest is January with an average of -2°C. It can
get colder in areas of the upper regions of the Karavanke and Jelovica.

== History ==
Recent archaeological excavations in the region of present-day
Radovljica have uncovered settlements from the Middle Palaeolithic
Age (40,000 BC), making it the oldest settled area in Gorenjska discovered
thus far. A number of sites also yielded archaeological finds
from more recent times. The first permanent settlement arrived in the
first half of the first millenium BC during the Hallstatt period of the
early Iron Age. Rich discoveries from the Brezje area – nowadays
known as the “alter of Gorenjska” – bear witness to the highly-developed
culture which reached its high-point in the 5th century BC. The period two centuries later was shaped by Celtic culture and the
economic rise galvanised by the forging of iron. This indirectly attests
to the inclusion of the region into the Noric Kingdom, celebrated for
its renowned Noric steel (“ferrum noricum”).<br /><br />
With the decades of conquest before the birth of Christ the region was
absorbed into the Roman Empire the following century, in whose
possession it remained until the fall of the Empire. Remnants of
ancient Roman culture have been preserved in a number of places in
the present-day municipality. The most notable archaeological finds
have been in the area of Lesce, close to the Roman road which ran
through the center of the De`ela towards Kranj, as well as from
Predtrg in Radovljica, Brezje, Begunje, Kropa and Ljubno.
Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the second half of
the 5th century AD, the traditions and way of life of ancient times
remained for a number of decades. The settlement of Ajdna on the
southern slope of Mt. Stol is the most well-known and researched settlement
from this time. There one can still see the archaeological
remains of an early Christian church, remnants of the settlement and
grave-sites. Most of the local archaeological discoveries from before
and during the period of classical antiquity and from the Great Slavic
Migrations are stored in local and national museums, but unfortunately
most of these collections are not accessible by the general public.
During the period of the Great Slavic Migrations (the 6th and 7th
Centuries) the territory was visited for a short time on their way to
northern Italy by the Germanic Langobards, who didn’t leave any visible
and lasting traces. It was completely different with the Slavs, who
began to settle the area in the 7th century. A new order was formed with
the former inhabitants gradually and peacefully, and following inclusion
in the Frankish Empire in the 9th century, was eventually founded
on the feudal system and Christianity.
<br /><br />The peak of feudal development in our region is tightly connected with
the noble family of the Ortenburgs, who had their origins in Spittal in
Austrian Carinthia. After the partitioning of family property,
Radovljica, first mentioned in sources by its German name
Ratmansdorf in 1169, was chosen as the region’s new centre. The
Ortenburgs owned two castles in the Radovljica territories: Kamen
Castle (Stone Castle) near Begunje and Lipnica (Wallenberg) Castle,
which was also the seat of their authority, on the opposite side of the valley beneath the Jelovica Plateau. Although Radovljica, which began
to develop into a trading centre, was somewhat removed from the main
road that ran through the De`ela, it sat on a defensively favourable
position atop a narrow ridge above the Sava river. While the colonisation
of the Carniolan lands paralleled the development of Radovljica a
rural settlement grew in the area near Predtrg.
<br /><br />The Ortenburgs devoted great attention to the advancement of iron forging,
not only in Radovlijca but also all across their holdings. As a result,
blacksmith communities emerged in Kropa, Kamna Gorica and Kolnica.
The administrative, political and secular systematisation of the lands was
completed with the transfer of the seat of the parish from the town of
Rodine farther north to Radovljica sometime between 1273 and 1296.
Radovljica was granted trading rights around 1333. In the 14th and the
beginning of the 15th centuries the Radovljica lands assumed the definitive
form that would remain unchanged for centuries: farming and raising
livestock was widespread on the left bank of the Sava, while the ecclesiastical,
artisan and trade centre of the region was in Radovljica. On the
right bank of the Sava iron forging flourished thanks to the abundant natural
resources. It was in the late middle ages when the settlements of
Radovljica, Kropa, Begunje and Lesce – which today remain the most
important places in the municipality – reached their definitive form.
22
When the last of the Ortenburgs died in 1420 their domains were handed
over to the Counts of Celje, who were the most powerful noble
family of that time in Slovenian territory. But only three decades later
the Celje family also died out without an heir and the Radovljica territory
came into the hands of the Habsburg noble family. The transfer
of ownership of the lands did not take place peacefully, however. In the
battle for succession Radovljica was laid siege to and partially burned.
The new owner of the lands, Emperor Friderik III, continually
increased the importance of Radovljica. First, in 1465 he centralised
legal authority in the town and roughly a decade later awarded it new
trading privileges. Because of the increased danger of Turkish attack
he spearheaded the renovation of the town’s existing defences as well
as the building of a defensive wall. Radovljica’s status was elevated to
that of town around 1500. <br /><br />Throughout this period the Habsburgs firmly
supported the Lambergs, the owners of Kamen Castle in Begunje,
whose military, economic and political ascent began during this time. In spite of the instability caused by natural disasters and turbulent sociopolitical
events, the 16th century nevertheless also brought economic and
cultural progress. A strong earthquake in 1511, compounded by other
damage, led to the fall of Lipnica Castle (Wallenberg), and as a result the
seat of administration eventually moved to Radovljica. Four years later, existing social conditions triggered a pan-Slovenian peasant uprising,
at the head of which were the peasants Klander and one whom history
has remembered only as the “krofasti kroja~,” (the “Doughnut Tailor”),
both from Radovljica. The revolt came about more because of restrictions
by the nobility and townspeople on peasant trade and artisan activities
than because of oppressive conditions. Even though a large number
of serfs united under the banner of rebellion, actual combat with an army
led by the nobility never came about on the Radovljica territory. After
the military defeat of the rebel army in the eastern parts of Slovenia the
uprising also died out in the Radovljica lands. The second half of the century was dominated by the Protestant
Reformation. The battle for Protestantism in the region wasn’t limited
to Radovljica, but also spread across the countryside and into the
iron-forging settlements.
<br /><br />A peaceful period followed after the success of the Counter-
Reformation, a weakening of the Turkish threat of invasion and a new
consolidation of Imperial authority at the end of the 16th century and
the beginning of the 17th century. In 1616 the Counts of Thurn-
Valsassina purchased the Radovljica lands from the Habsburgs, maintaining
them for more than 300 years. The town of Radovljica, however,
witnessed no major changes – perhaps culturally to a certain
degree but not economically. During the same period, the power of the
countryside grew as a class of enterprising peasants became increasingly
more successful by supplementing their farming with the trade
and transport of goods. The 17th and 18th centuries also became known
as the golden age of iron forging in the region. The iron-forging
“barons” – the Mazzols and Gro{eljs from Kropa and the Kapus family
from Kamna Gorica – were among the first harbingers of a new
period shaped by commerce, which also brought about the decline of
the feudal system. The most important representative of this age of
enlightenment was born in Radovljica in 1756: the first Slovene
dramatist, pedagogue and historian Anton Toma` Linhart. The town of Radovljica however did not quite know how best to take
advantage of the economic and cultural movements of the Baroque and
the Enlightenment. In 1787 the town lost the self-administration rights
that it had boasted for a century, and came under the direct administration
of the Thurn-Valsassina family. Following the short period of the reconstituted Illyrian Provinces, imposed on the region by the occupying
French (1809-1813), it wasn’t until 1840 when a regional authority
was established with its seat in Radovljica. During the political
movements of 1848, the “Spring of Nations,” Radovljica and Kropa
distinguished themselves in the battle “for” and “against” the Slovene
nationalism movement. <br /><br />Another major economic and cultural push
came at the second half of the 19th century, aided in a large part by the
construction of the railway in Gorenjska. Up until the fall of the
Habsburg Monarchy at the end of the First World War, life in much of
the present-day municipality was characterised by powerful nationalist
cultural and political movements, beginning with the establishment of
Slovene clubs, societies and co-ops, then spreading with the increasingly
vocal political battles in which Slovene members of parliament
played important roles in both the provincial and the state assemblies. <br /><br />During the First World War, primarily in the battles raging on the
nearby So~a Front, the Italian battlefields and in the battle for the
northern border in Carniola following the end of war, local soldiers
fought for national equality and freedom. More than 240 men and
boys from the municipality perished on various battlefields in World
War I. Even though national demands were not completely fulfilled
following the formation of the new Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats
and Slovenes in 1918 (known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after
1929), this was a period in which pretty large economic and cultural
progress was made. Farther development was interrupted by the
Second World War. After the surrender of the Royal Yugoslav Army in April 1941, Gorenjska
was incorporated into Nazi Germany and Radovljica was made the
administrative centre of the immediate region. The criminal Nazi regime,
which set about the task of systematically eradicating Slovene culture and
incorporating the territory into “Greater Germany,” already met with
armed revolt in the summer of 1941. The leaders of the uprising were
mainly nationalist patriots. More than 11,500 people were locked up by
the Gestapo, the Nazi police, in a prison in Begunje. 849 of them lost their
lives, while more than 1,700 were sent to various concentration camps.
The Nazis also exiled a number of social, political and economic leaders
from the region to Serbia and Croatia in 1941 and the beginning of 1942.
The Second World War took nearly twice as many lives on the region’s
soil as the First World War two decades earlier. <br /><br />The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed at the end of
World War II and remained for decades. The municipality of Radovljica
was one of the largest municipal regions in the country. Development was
based primarily on industrialisation and the expansion of schools, health
services and culture, as well as tourism primarily around the lakes of Bled
and Bohinj. Great effort was spent in developing the tourism potential of
the region, from tourist-cultural institutions to sport facilities.
With the democratic changes following the brief war of June 1991, an
independent and free nation of Slovenia was finally established. Administrative reform in 1994 established the current borders of the
<br /><br />Municipality of Radovljica. With its historical legacy and cultural and tourism
offerings the region represents an important part of the mosaic of Slovenia, a
nation which from May 1, 2004, is a member state of the European Union.




{{Slovenia-municipalities}} {{Slovenia-municipalities}}

Revision as of 14:43, 19 December 2007

Template:Municipality of Slovenia

Radovljica is a town and a municipality in the Northern part of Slovenia, in the Upper Carniola region. The municipality has around 18.000 inhabitants and spreads over 118 km². Radovljica is the hometown of dramatist and historian Anton Tomaž Linhart and the architect Ivan Vurnik.

Municipalities of Slovenia
Urban municipalities
Non-urban municipalities
Stub icon

This Slovenian geography article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

46°21′N 14°10′E / 46.350°N 14.167°E / 46.350; 14.167

Categories: