Golo (, ) is a

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 ...

in the hills south of Ig in central

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 entire Municipality of Ig is part of the traditional region of

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 ...

and is now included in the

Central Slovenia Statistical Region The Central Slovenia Statistical Region () is a Statistical regions of Slovenia, statistical region in central Slovenia. Geography This is the second-largest region in terms of territory. It has a total area of 2,555 km2, with a central po ...

Geography

Golo is a clustered village with two settlement centers: the hamlets of Gorenje Golo ()''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 116. and Dolenje Golo (). It lies along the road from Ig to

Visoko Visoko ( sr-cyrl, Високо, ) is a city located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality had a population of 39,938 inhabitants with 11,205 livi ...

northeast of Mount Mokrec (elevation: ).Savnik, Roman, ed. 1971. ''Krajevni leksikon Slovenije'', vol. 2. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, p. 409. Golec Hill (elevation: ) rises to the southwest.

History

Early settlement in Golo is attested by archaeological finds, including

Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western Europe, Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallst ...

artifacts and a Roman-era fortification near the site of the church.Požgane vasi. 1942. ''Glas naroda'' 50(163): 2. A castle known as Nad Gačo stood above the rectory. A part-time school was established in Golo in 1874, and regular schooling was started in 1908. Until the school building was built in 1925, classes were held in the rectory. During the Second World War, Italian forces burned the village on March 19, 1942. Later the same year, on July 23, they killed 12 hostages at Gmajna below Golec Hill.

Mass grave

Golo 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 ...

from the period immediately after the Second World War. The Golo Mass Grave () is located in a sinkhole south of the settlement in the hamlet of Stara Žaga. It contains the remains of a large number of

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...

prisoners of war that were transported by truck from the prison in Šentvid and murdered here on July 26, 1945.

Merger

Golo was established as a single settlement in 1952, when the formerly separate villages of Gorenje Golo and Dolenje Golo were merged to create Golo.

Church

The local

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

, built outside the settlement to the northeast, is dedicated to Saint Margaret () and belongs to the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ljubljana The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ljubljana (, ) is a Latin ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Slovenia.Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

building, dating to the 18th century. A prehistoric

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

settlement has also been identified at the site around the church. The structure at the site was first mentioned in 1631; it was made a quasi-parish in 1787 and was elevated to a parish in 1877. The current church dates to the beginning of the 19th century. Its altar and pulpit date from the second half of the 18th century and were transferred to the church from the monastery church in

Kostanjevica na Krki Kostanjevica na Krki (; also ''Kostanjevica ob Krki,'' ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 68.) is a small town in the historic Lower Ca ...

. The church was burned by Italian forces in March 1942 and was renovated after the war.

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Golo include: *Lovro Mencinger (1835–1903), orchardist. He lived in Golo from 1866 to 1891 and was the first to describe the glory optical phenomenon there.Pirjevec, Avgust. 1933. Mencinger, Lovro (1835–1903). In: Franc Ksaver Lukman et al. (eds.), ''Slovenski biografski leksikon'', vol. 5, ''Maas–Mrkun''. Ljubljana: Zadružna gospodarska banka.

References

External links

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