Brezje () is a small

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

south of

Begunje Begunje na Gorenjskem (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146.) is a village in the Municipality of Radovljica in the Upper Carniola ...

in the

Municipality of Cerknica The Municipality of Cerknica (; ) is a Municipalities of Slovenia, municipality in the Karst Plateau, Karst region of southwestern Slovenia, with a population of 11,350 in 2012. The seat of the municipality is the town of Cerknica. It belongs to t ...

in the

Inner Carniola Inner Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the southwestern part of the larger Carniola region. It comprises the Hrušica (plateau), Hrušica karst plateau up to Postojna Gate, bordering the Slovenian Littoral (the Goriška, Gor ...

region of

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 ...

Name

Brezje was attested in written sources as ''Vrersa'' in 1275, ''Bresiach'' in 1422, ''Pirk'' in 1438, and ''Bresie'' in 1498, among other spellings. The name ''Brezje'' literally means '

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

woods', derived from the common noun ''breza'' '

'. Like similar toponyms in Slovenia (e.g., '' Brezova, Brezovec, Brezovci''), it originally referred to the local vegetation.

History

A water main was installed in Brezje in 1911; prior to this, the villagers would drive their animals to Cerkniščica Creek northwest of the settlement to water them and would also transport water from the creek for household use. A sawmill jointly owned by several farmers operated on Cerkniščica Creek until 1950.

Mass grave

Brezje is the site of a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of exec ...

associated with the Second World War. The Kovač Shaft Mass Grave ( or ''Grobišče Kovačev brezen'') is located southeast of Brezje, on the northwest slope of Big Mount Slivnica (, 1,114 m). The cave entrance is at the bottom of an 18 m deep sinkhole. The bones of an unknown number of victims and a grenade were found in the shaft.

Church

The local church in the settlement is dedicated to

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

and belongs to the

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Cerknica.Družina RC Church in Slovenia Journal website
/ref> It dates from 1775.

References

External links

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