Spodnji Porčič () is a settlement in the

Slovene Hills The Slovene Hills or the Slovenian Hills (, or ) is the largest hilly region of Slovenia, a smaller part is located in the Austrian province of Styria. It is situated in the northeast of the country and has an area of . It comprises the ''Western ...

() in the

Municipality of Lenart The Municipality of Lenart (; ) is a municipality in northeastern Slovenia. It has just over 11,000 inhabitants. It is considered the centre of the Slovene Hills (). The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. It is now included in the D ...

in northeastern

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 ...

. The southern part of the settlement is part of the Lenart industrial zone. The area is part of the traditional region of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

. It is now included in the

Drava Statistical Region The Drava Statistical Region () is a statistical region in Slovenia. The largest city in the region is Maribor. The region's name comes from the Drava River and includes land on both banks along its course through Slovenia as well as the Pohorj ...

Name

The name ''Spodnji Porčič'' literally means 'lower Porčič', differentiating the settlement from neighboring Zgornji Porčič (literally, 'upper Porčič') and ''Stari Porčič'' (literally, 'old Porčič', a hamlet of Zgornji Porčič). The name ''Porčič'' was first attested in written sources in 1338 as ''Purchstal'' (and as ''Purkstal'' in 1419, ''Purckstall'' and ''Purgstal'' in 1445, and ''Purgstoll'' and ''Burgstall'' in 1763–87). The name is believed to derive from

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...

''burcstal'' (cf.

modern German New High German (NHG; ) is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language, starting in the 17th century. It is a loan translation of the German (). The most important characteristic of the period is the developme ...

''Burgstall''), meaning '(elevated) fortification'. This may refer to a manor owned by the Stubenberg noble family that formerly stood in Spodnji Porčič, or to prehistoric fortifications. The Slovenian name ''Porčič'' may be derived from the German name as a diminutized

hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek ; sometimes also ''hypocoristic''), or pet name, is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for Isabel or ''Bob (given name), Bob'' fo ...

(''Purg-'' > ''*Porgec'' > ''*Porgčič'' > ''Porčič'').

Cultural heritage

Eneolithic The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as st ...

settlement has been identified near the settlement. It has yet to be investigated further and its extent has not been determined. It is a relatively rare site from this period in Slovenia and the archaeological level is relatively undisturbed.

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Spodnji Porčič include: *

Leopold Perko Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name), including a list of people named Leopold or Léopold * Leopold (surname) Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold B ...

(1848–1918), sculptor and woodcarverSavnik, Roman, ed. 1980. ''Krajevni leksikon Slovenije'', vol. 4. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, p. 83.

References

External links

Spodnji Porčič on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Lenart {{Lenart-geo-stub