Slovenske Konjice
| Slovenske Konjice | ||
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| Town and Municipality | ||
| View of Slovenske Konjice from the castle
View of Slovenske Konjice from the castle
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| Location of the Municipality of Slovenske Konjice in Slovenia Location of the Municipality of Slovenske Konjice in Slovenia |
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 Slovenske Konjice
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| Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
| Country |  Slovenia |
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| First mention | 1146 | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Miran Gorinšek | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 97.8 km2 (37.8 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 322 m (1,056 ft) | |
| Population (2008)[1] | ||
| • Total | 13,612 | |
| • Density | 140/km2 (360/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+01) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+02) | |
| Area code(s) | 03 | |
| Website | Slovenske Konjice website | |
| Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia | ||
Slovenske Konjice is a town and a municipality in northeastern Slovenia. The area was part of the traditional region of Styria.
Contents
Municipality of Slovenske Konjice
The municipality is now included in the Savinja Statistical Region.[2] It is the administrative and cultural centre of the Dravinja Valley. The municipality borders on the municipalities of Šmarje pri Jelšah and Šentjur to the south, Vojnik to the west, Zreče to the northwest, Oplotnica to the north, Slovenska Bistrica to the east, and Rogaška Slatina to the southeast. It spreads over 97.8 square kilometres (37.8 sq mi) and has a population of 13,600. About 100 km (62 miles) from Ljubljana, Graz, or Zagreb, it is easily reachable by the A1 motorway and via the small airport near Loče.
History & Town sights
The town of Slovenske Konjice lies under the northern slopes of Mount Konjice (Slovene: Konjiška Gora) and the winegrowing Škalce Hills. On a hill above the town to the southwest are the ruins of Konjice Castle, an extensive 12th-century castle with later additions, that was abandoned in the 18th century.[3] Immediately above Old Square (Slovene: Stari trg) stands the medieval Trebnik Mansion.[4] The 850-year-old dense town line is a sloping square, from Trebnik Manor past St. George's parish church, along a small stream in an open channel, down to the Dravinja River. The new square (Mestni trg) is on the other bank of the river, connected with the old square by bridge with horse heads on the corners.
The parish church is dedicated to Saint George (Slovene: sveti Jurij) and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor. It dates to the late 13th century with 18th-century additions (side baroque chapel).[5] Town was mentioned in written sources dating to 1165 as a seminal parish. The castle was first mentioned in 1148 and the market town in 1236. The town itself was not surrounded by walls. At the times of Ottoman raids the church with the vicarage served as a fortified refuge. A second church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Anne. It dates to the mid-16th century with a 17th-century belfry and Baroque additions.[6]
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The main street and the transversal connections above the Dravinja are lined with longitudinal or transversally positioned one-storey secular houses with well-preserved Gothic cores and Renaissance additions. The façades were restyled in the 19th century (Biedermeier, Historicism). A rarity is the Art Nouveau building of the savings bank. A Marian column near the church dating to the mid-18th century and a columnar shrine dedicated to Saint Florian above the stream (the author of both is Franc Zamlik, 1750) dominate the open square. The town core is well preserved, with no aggressive breakthroughs of the roofs and diverse concepts inside the condensed nucleus.
Konjice played its part during the Slovenian peasant revolt of 1515, with rebels here composing a letter with their demands to send to the emperor in Vienna.[7] Economic development was boosted after construction of main Vienna to Trieste road in the 18th century. During the 19th century the town got a local court. The Austrian Southern Railway was built in 1846, but it ran 15 km (9 mi) east of Konjice. On 20 June 1892 works started on a narrow gauge (760 mm) steam railroad line called Konjičanka from Poljčane to Slovenske Konjice, which was opened on 20 December 1892. On 29 June 1921 it was extended to Zreče. It was closed in 1963, and the tracks were removed in 1970. A Museum locomotive K.3 (Gonobitz), build by Krauss factory at Linz, used on this line, is on display at the Slovenian Railway Museum in Ljubljana.
Forms of the written name
Over the centuries the name Konjice appears in written documents in various forms: Gonviz (1251), Gombicz (1370), Gannabitz (1570), Gonaviz (1594), Gonavitz (1630), Gonwitz (1636), Gonowitz (1662), Ganowiz (1680), Gonnawitz (1680) and the German: Gonobitz.
"Konjice" got the adjective "Slovenske" in the 1918, during Kingdom of Yugoslavia, in order not to be confused with the town of Konjic in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Owners of the castle
- house of Gonobitz 1148–1329
- house of Wilthausen 1329–1385
- house of Duino 1385–1406
- counts Walsee 1406–1469
- regional princes 1496–1576
- Johann von Khißl 1576–1592
- Archduke Ferdinand 1594–1597
- counts Tattenbach 1597–1670
- Holy Roman Emperor 1670–1685
- Johann and Otto Tattenbach 1685–1692
- Seiz Charterhouse 1692–1783
- religious foundation 1783–1828
- princes of Windisch-Grätz 1828–1945
Tourism
- Slovenske Konjice won the European Entente Florale Gold Medal Award in 1998 and 2004 [1]
- The traditional St. George festival (Jurjevanje) ranks Slovenske Konjice among Europe's Carnival Cities.
- Association of Historical Cities of Slovenia: Cities of Culture
The Škalce and Konjiška gora areas have many trails where local people go for walks. Slovenske Konjice's sights.
The town has been rewarded for its efforts with the national "Most Beautiful Excursion Destination" award by Tourist Association of Slovenia for many years in a row.
The town of Slovenske Konjice hosts an international festival of underwater film and photography called "Sprehodi pod morjem" (Walks under the Sea), which is held every year at the end of January (on the last Thursday of the month).
Culture
- Walk Under Water – international festival of underwater film and video
Sport
Prominent persons
Prominent persons from the municipality of Slovenske Konjice include:
- Branko Rudolf – slovene writer
- Ivan Minatti – slovene poet
- Jure Zdovc – slovene basketball player / coach
- Adelma Vay – writer, medium and pioneer of Spiritualism
- Marjan Lesnik – Chef de Cuisine at Claridges for over 12 years (1983–1995) featured on British and American TV, including appearances as chief adjudicator for the Pierre Taitinger International Culinary Prize. Marjan is a member of the Master Chefs of Great Britain and the Academy of culinary arts, has been President of Europe Toque and cooks on various occasions for the British Royal Family.
References
- ↑ Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, census of 2002
- ↑ Slovenske Konjice municipal site
- ↑ Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage reference number ešd 665
- ↑ Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage reference number ešd 7864
- ↑ Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage reference number ešd 2927
- ↑ Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage reference number ešd 3380
- ↑ Baraga Jože, Motaln Valerija, Konjiško 860 let (1146–2006) Zbornik ob 860-letnici Slovenskih Konjic, Kronologija Konjic
Sources
English:
- Bela Sever, Central Europe: Slovenija, Nordic Book (HK) Ltd, 1998, Iceland. ISBN 978-962-8144-05-1 COBISS 320277
- Stegenšek Avguštin, Konjiška dekanija, Maribor, 1909. COBISS 17588993
- Baraga Jože, Motaln Valerija, Konjiško 860 let (1146–2006) Zbornik ob 860-letnici Slovenskih Konjic, Slovenske Konjice 2006. COBISS 227330048
Twin towns – Sister cities
Slovenske Konjice is twinned with:
Hlohovec, Slovakia (since 2007)
Kosjerić, Serbia (since 2009)
Hranice (Přerov District), Czech Republic (since 2012)
Gornja Stubica, Croatia (since 2013)
International projects
Sollefteå, Sweden (2008)
External links
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