Lower Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region in Slovenia, the southeastern part of the historical Carniola region. Its largest town and urban center is Novo Mesto, with other urban centers including Kočevje, Grosuplje, Krško, Trebnje, and Ribnica.
Geography
Lower Carniola is delineated by the Ljubljana Basin with the city of
Ljubljana to the northwest, by the
Kupa and the border with
Croatia with the Gorjanci Mountains to the south and southeast, by the
Sava to the north and northeast, and by
Mount Krim, the
Bloke Plateau, and the
Potok Plateau () to the west. The southernmost region down to the border with
Croatia on the
Kupa is called
White Carniola and usually considered part of Lower Carniola.
[Ferenc, Tone. 1988. "Dolenjska." Enciklopedija Slovenije, vol. 2, pp. 287–298. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, p. 287.]
Within the Kočevje Rog karst plateau, the mountains reach an elevation of up to . The historic centre of Lower Carniola is Novo Mesto, and other towns include Kočevje, Grosuplje, Krško, Trebnje, Mirna, Črnomelj, Semič, and Metlika.
History
In the 17th century, the Habsburg duchy of Carniola was internally divided into three administrative districts. This division was thoroughly described by the scholar Johann Weikhard von Valvasor in his 1689 work
The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola. The districts were known in German as
Kreise (
kresija in old Slovene). They were:
Upper Carniola with its centre in
Ljubljana (formerly
Kranj), comprising the northern areas of the duchy;
Inner Carniola comprising the southwest, with its centre in
Postojna, and Lower Carniola in the southeast, roughly corresponding to the medieval
Windic March of the Holy Roman Empire. While the bulk of the population spoke Slovene, the German-speaking exclave of the
Gottscheers existed around Kočevje in the south.
This division remained, in various arrangements, up to the 1860s, when the old administrative districts were abolished and Lower Carniola was subdivided into the smaller Bezirke of Novo Mesto ( Rudolfswert), Kočevje ( Gottschee), and Krško ( Gurkfeld). Nevertheless, the regional identity remained strong also thereafter. Upon the dissolution of Austria-Hungary after World War I, Carniola was incorporated first into the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and then into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and it ceased to exist as a separate political and geographical unit. The Carniolan regional identity soon faded away, but the regional identification with its sub-units (Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and, to a lesser extent, Inner Carniola) remain strong.
Since the 1890s, Lower Carniola has become significantly more connected with the surrounding regions through the construction of the Ljubljana–Novo Mesto Railway (1894), Sevnica–Trebnje Railway (1908, 1938), and the Brotherhood and Unity Highway (1958) linking Ljubljana and Zagreb.
Culture
Language
People of Lower Carniola speak various dialects with common characteristics, grouped together under the Lower Carniolan dialect group.
In the 16th century, the Lower Carniolan reformer and writer of the first Slovene book, Primož Trubar, laid the foundation for what later became standard Slovene language, giving it additions of his native speech, the Lower Carniolan dialect, combined with the capital Ljubljana dialect.
Music
Folklore
Lower Carniola has had an important impact on Slovene folk music, with many great local musicians, the most notable being
Lojze Slak.
Pouring Cvicek.jpg|Lower Carniolan in folk costume pouring Cviček
Noša Dobrnič.JPG|A variety of Lower Carniolan folk costume
Franz Kurz zum Thurn und Goldenstein - Narodna noša okoli Osilnice pri Kočevju.jpg|Folk costumes from Osilnica by Kočevje
Franz Kurz zum Thurn und Goldenstein - Narodna noša Poljan (Dolenjska).jpg|Folk costumes from Poljane
Musical events
Since 2013, Woodland Pristava, an annual electronic dance music festival, has been held in Pristava nad Stično.
Cuisine
Lower Carniola shares most of the common
Slovene cuisine, with emphasis on grilled meat and local wine, such as Cviček. Some other regional dishes include
matevž,
mlinci, and
belokranjska povitica.
Cviček - Gospodična Trdinov vrh - Dolenjska.jpg|Cviček wine
Matevž (Slovenian cuisine).jpg|Plate with matevž as a side
Mlinci Slovenia.jpg|Dry mlinci
Notable people
-
Primož Trubar (1508–1586), writer of the first book in Slovene language
-
Jurij Dalmatin (1547–1589), writer and translator
-
Jacobus Gallus (1550–1591), late-Renaissance composer
-
Joannes Adamus Gaiger (1667–1722), philologist and lexicographer
-
Peter Kosler (1824–1879), lawyer and cartographer
-
Fran Levstik (1831–1887), writer
-
Josip Stritar (1836–1923), writer
-
Josip Jurčič (1844–1881), writer
-
Minca Krkovič (1858–1933), Slovenian field laborer and folk singer
-
Oton Župančič (1878–1949), poet
-
Louis Adamic (1898–1951), writer
-
Anton Podbevšek (1898–1981), poet
-
Božidar Jakac (1899–1989), painter
-
Leon Štukelj (1898–1999), athlete
-
Tone Kralj (1900–1975), sculptor and painter
-
Edvard Ravnikar (1907–1993), architect
-
Bojan Adamič (1912–1995), composer
-
Tone Pavček (1928–2011), poet
-
Lojze Slak (1932–2011), pioneer of ensemble music
-
Lojze Peterle (born 1948), politician
-
Janez Janša (born 1958), former prime minister of Slovenia
-
Nina Pušlar (born 1988), musician
Image gallery
File:Novo Mesto View.JPG|Novo Mesto
File:Otocec (2) (3996068970).jpg|Otočec Castle
File:2015-7-Žužemberk (14).JPG|Žužemberk
File:Annunciation Church (Kostanjevica na Krki) 05.jpg|Kostanjevica na Krki Monastery
File:Pleterje (11) (3981017305).jpg|Pleterje Charterhouse
File:Bogenšperk vhodna stran.JPG|Bogenšperk Castle
File:StefanPriTrebnjem1.jpg|Rural landscape near Trebnje
File:Pogled na Višnjo Goro 3.jpg|Višnja Gora
File:MokriceGrad.JPG|Mokrice Castle
File:Sticna Abbey.JPG|Stična Abbey
File:Soteska - Hudičev turn.jpg|Devil's Tower
File:Roofed double hayrack with extension 01.jpg|Hayrack Museum in Šentrupert
See also
-
Lower Carniolan dialect group
-
Gottscheerish
-
Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region
External links
