Rateče (; it, Racchia, german: Ratschach) is a village in the
Municipality of Kranjska Gora
The Municipality of Kranjska Gora (; sl, Občina Kranjska Gora) is a municipality on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region of northwest Slovenia, close to the Austrian and Italian borders. The seat of the municipality is the ...
, in the far northwest corner of
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...
. It is located in the upper part of the
Upper Sava Valley
The Upper Sava Valley ( sl, Zgornjesavska dolina) is an alpine valley in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. The Sava Dolinka River flows along it. It begins in Rateče at an elevation of 870 m and ends at Moste at 560 m. It is the geographi ...
, between the
Sava Dolinka and
Ziljica rivers, a tributary of the
. Further up the valley is the Rateče border crossing to
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. Rateče is the closest Slovenian village to the summit of Mount Peč (also known in Slovene as
Tromeja '
tripoint
A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...
'), the point where the borders of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, and Slovenia meet.
History
The settlement was first mentioned in 1385. It still retains much of its historic character. One of the oldest surviving churches in Slovenia, the
Church of St. Thomas, is located in the village. The
Rateče (or Klagenfurt) Manuscript, one of the earliest surviving
Slovene texts, is thought to have been compiled in the Rateče area (possibly at St. Thomas') during the second half of the 14th century. The
cadastral community
A cadastral community or cadastral municipality, is a cadastral subdivision of municipalities in the nations of Austria,Cadastral Template for Austria, web-pageCT-AT Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, ...
of Rateče was split into two parts by the new Italian-Yugoslav border after the treaties that followed the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
; Yugoslavia acquired the eastern portion, which includes the main settlement of Rateče, and Italy the western mountainous portion, which is still part of the municipality of
Tarvisio
Tarvisio ( German and fur, Tarvis, sl, Trbiž) is a comune in the northeastern part of the autonomous Friuli Venezia Giulia region in Italy.
Geography
The town is in the Canal Valley (''Val Canale'') between the Carnic Alps and Karawanks ra ...
.

Other historic buildings include the
late Gothic
International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by t ...
parish church dedicated to the
Holy Spirit
In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts ...
and an
ethnographic
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
museum in the
Kajžnk House The Kajžnk House or Kajžnik House ( sl, Kajžnkova hiša, ''Kajžnikova hiša'') is an ethnographic museum in a restored Alpine farmhouse in the village of Rateče, in the northwest Slovenian Municipality of Kranjska Gora
The Municipality of Kr ...
, a restored 19th-century farmhouse.
Kajžnkova hiša v Ratečah
Geography
Trebiža and Kravnjak creeks flow through the village. Their sources are on the slopes of Mount Peč (1,510 m) and Mount Petelinjek (1,552 m), constituting the extreme western part of the Karawanks
The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks ( sl, Karavanke; german: Karawanken, ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of in an east–west di ...
range. Below the village and beside the main road from Jesenice
Jesenice (, german: Aßling''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru'', vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 144.) is a Slovenian town and the seat of the Municipality of Jesenice on the ...
to Tarvisio
Tarvisio ( German and fur, Tarvis, sl, Trbiž) is a comune in the northeastern part of the autonomous Friuli Venezia Giulia region in Italy.
Geography
The town is in the Canal Valley (''Val Canale'') between the Carnic Alps and Karawanks ra ...
is the gravelly Ledine Basin, where Nadiža Creek disappears underground. The creek flows from the glacial Planica
Planica () is an Alpine valley in northwestern Slovenia, extending south from the border village of Rateče, not far from another well-known ski resort, Kranjska Gora. Further south, the valley extends into the Tamar Valley, a popular hiking ...
Valley. At times of heavy precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hai ...
a small lake forms in Ledine, from which water filters through the gravel to rise again at Zelenci, a marshy wetland with an extraordinarily rich ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...
, regarded as the permanent source of the Sava Dolinka River.
Economy and tourism
The village is surrounded by fields, meadows, and pastures. Due to the harsh climate, the inhabitants concern themselves principally with livestock husbandry, relying on summer grazing in high pastures. Most local farmers are binational landowners, with meadows across the border in Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
Tourism is important to the local economy; there are many vacation houses in the area. Rateče is a starting point for hiking trips into the Julian Alps
The Julian Alps ( sl, Julijske Alpe, it, Alpi Giulie, , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretch from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large p ...
(through Tamar) and the Karawanks range. The lower Planica
Planica () is an Alpine valley in northwestern Slovenia, extending south from the border village of Rateče, not far from another well-known ski resort, Kranjska Gora. Further south, the valley extends into the Tamar Valley, a popular hiking ...
Valley hosts well-known ski-jumping competitions, where both the 100 m and 200 m benchmarks were first broken (in 1936 and 1994, respectively).
Near the border crossing is the Macesnov'c ski area, with a 1,900 m track.
Every year there is a local event organised by the Rateče Tourist Association. It takes place on 15 August in the village square (in Gorica).
References
External links
*
Rateče on Geopedia
Tourist Society Rateče - Planica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratece
Populated places in the Municipality of Kranjska Gora