Kozje (, german: Drachenburg) is a small town in eastern

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, an ...

. It is the seat of the

Municipality of Kozje The Municipality of Kozje (; sl, Občina Kozje) is a municipality in the traditional region of Styria in northeastern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Kozje. Kozje became a municipality in 1994. Settlements In addition to ...

. The settlement of Kozje lies in the centre of the municipality, from Celje, from

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

, and from

Rogaška Slatina Rogaška Slatina (; german: Rohitsch-Sauerbrunn''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 4: ''Štajersko''. 1904. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 248.) is a town in eastern Slovenia. It is the large ...

. It is the main settlement of the Kozje region ( sl, Kozjansko). The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. The municipality is now included in the

Savinja Statistical Region The Savinja Statistical Region ( sl, Savinjska statistična regija) is a statistical region in Slovenia. The largest town in the region is Celje. It is named after the Savinja River. The region is very diverse in natural geography; it mainly c ...

. It is one of the oldest settlements in the area, first mentioned in written documents dating to 1016. It was granted

market rights A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

before 1384. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the settlement is dedicated to the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution '' Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by ...

and belongs to the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje The Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje ( la, Dioecesis Celeiensis; sl, Škofija Celje) is a diocese located in the city of Celje in the Ecclesiastical province of Maribor in Slovenia. History * April 7, 2006: Established as Diocese of Celje from ...

. It was built on the site of an earlier building in the 15th century and has major 17th-century alterations. A second church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Hemma ( sl, sveta Ema). It was built in around 1466 with 16th-century modifications and the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

extended in 1861.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 3079

References

External links

Kozje on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Kozje {{Kozje-geo-stub