Solčava (; German: ''Sulzbach'') is a village in the

Upper Savinja Valley The Savinja () is a river in northeast Slovenia which flows mostly in the Upper and Lower Savinja Valley ( sl, Zgornja in Spodnja Savinjska dolina) and through the cities of Celje and Laško. The Savinja is the main river of the Savinja Alps (Sl ...

in northern

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 ...

close to the

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 ...

n border. It is the largest settlement and the seat of the

Municipality of Solčava The Municipality of Solčava (; sl, Občina Solčava) is a municipality in the traditional region of Upper Carniola in northern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Solčava. Solčava became a municipality in 1998. Settlements ...

. Traditionally it belonged to the region of

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered ...

and 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 ...

Name

Solčava was attested in written sources as ''Sulçpach'' in 1268 (and as ''Sulzpach'' in 1306 and ''Sulzbach'' in 1491). In the local dialect, the village is called ''Žocpah'', and in the 19th century its Slovene name was recorded as ''Žolcpah'', ''Sušpach'', and ''Solcpah''—all based on the German name. The German name is a compound corresponding to ''Sulze'' 'mineral springs' + ''Bach'' 'creek', referring to the local geography. The modern Slovene name ''Solčava'' was artificially created in the 19th century from the German name; the first half of the name was modified to ''Šolč-'' to appear more Slovene, and the second half was replaced with ''-ava'', a common suffix associated with streams.

Church

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 Mary of the Snows. It dates to the 15th century and contains a 13th-century statue of the Virgin Mary. It belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number 3381

References

External links

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