Grgar (; ) 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 western
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 ...
in the
Municipality of Nova Gorica
The Urban Municipality of Nova Gorica (; ) is a municipality in the traditional region of the Slovene Littoral in western Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the city of Nova Gorica. Nova Gorica became a municipality in 1994. It borders It ...
. It is located under Holy Mount (), above the
Soča
Soča (, in Slovene) or Isonzo (, in Italian; other names: ; ; or ') is a long river that flows through western Slovenia () and northeastern Italy ().
An Alpine river in character, its source lies in the Trenta Valley in the Julian Alps ...
Valley and below the
Banjšice Plateau
The Banjšice Plateau (, also or , ) is a karst plateau in western Slovenia, in the traditional region of Goriška. It is a widely settled area, distinguished by its history and biodiversity. Geographically, it belongs to the Dinaric Alps.
Geogr ...
.
Name
Grgar was mentioned in written sources 1370 as ''Gaergaer'' and in 1389 as ''Grêgôr''. For phonological and morphological reasons, the latter transcription appears to be a
hypercorrection
In sociolinguistics, hypercorrection is the nonstandard use of language that results from the overapplication of a perceived rule of language-usage prescription. A speaker or writer who produces a hypercorrection generally believes through a ...
and not connected with
Saint Gregory or the name ''Gregor'' 'Gregory'. Instead, the name may be derived from another Romance base, perhaps ''*gregārius'' 'shepherd'.
Mass graves
Grgar is the site of two known
mass graves
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 Podgomila Shaft Mass Grave (), also known as the Miljavec Shaft Mass Grave (), is located on the left side of the road to
Grgarske Ravne, about north of Grgar. It contains the remains 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 ...
and Italian prisoners of war, and Slovene and Italian civilians murdered in May 1945. The Jošč Shaft Mass Grave () is located on the left side of the road to
Grgarske Ravne, about north of Grgar. It contains the remains of unknown victims.
Church
The
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 ...
in the settlement is dedicated to
Saint Martin and belongs to the
Diocese of Koper.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Koper List of Churches May 2008
Notable people
Notable people that were born or lived in Grgar include:
* Matej Bor, pen name of Vladimir Pavšič (1913–1993), poet
* Urška Ferligoj (1526–1544), a shepherdess and Marian seeress, was born and died in Grgar. A shrine stands at the site of her birthplace.
References
External links
*
Grgar on Geopedia
Populated places in the Urban Municipality of Nova Gorica
{{NovaGorica-geo-stub