Kamnik (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 26–27. or ''Stein in Oberkrain'') is the ninth-largest town 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 ...

, located in the traditional province of

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( ; ; ) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The largest town in the region is Kranj, and other urban centers include Kamnik, Jesenice, Jesenice, Jesenice, Domžale and ...

(northern

). It is the seat of the Municipality of Kamnik, which encompasses a large part of the Kamnik Alps and the surrounding area. The town of Kamnik has three

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

s as well as many examples of historical

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

History

The name Kamnik was first mentioned in the 11th century. The first time it was mentioned as a town was in 1229, when it was an important trading post on the road between

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

and

Celje Celje (, , ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, third-largest city in Slovenia. It is a regional center of the traditional Slovenian region of Styria (Slovenia), Styria and the administrative seat of the City Municipality of Celje. Th ...

. This makes the town one of the oldest in Slovenia. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, Kamnik had its own mint and some aristocratic families among its residents. The town was among the most influential centers of power for the

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n counts of Andechs in the region of

Carniola Carniola ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region still tend to identify with its traditional parts Upp ...

at the time. The only remnant of the Bavarian nobility are the two ruined castles which are both strategically built on high ground near the town center. The

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

monastery built in the town itself is a testament to its importance. The building is well preserved and has undergone extensive renovation in recent years. Historical suburbs of the town include Šut(i)na (), Na Produ (), Novi Trg (, ), Pred Mostom (, ), Graben, and Podgoro. In 1934 the following formerly independent settlements were annexed by Kamnik: Fužine (),

Žale Žale Central Cemetery (), often simply Žale, is the largest and the central cemetery in Ljubljana and Slovenia. It is located in the Bežigrad District and operated by the Žale Public Company. History The cemetery was built in 1906 behin ...

(in older sources also ''Žalje'', ), Zaprice (), Kratno, Pugled, Zgornje Perovo (), Spodnje Perovo (), Bakovnik, and the lower part of Mekinje. Most of the old town center is built in an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

style. Most of the facades have been renovated in recent years but the process is still ongoing.

Mass grave

Kamnik 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 Cuzak Meadow Mass Grave () is located in the southeast part of the town, in a grassy area encircled by a road on the premises of the Svit factory. The grave contains the remains of several hundred soldiers and civilians, mostly Croats but also some Serbs, that were murdered on 11 May 1945.Ferenc, Mitja, & Želimir Kužatko. 2007. ''Prikrita grobišča Hrvatov v Republiki Sloveniji''. Ljubljana: Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino.

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Kamnik include: * Fran Albreht (1889–1963), author * France Balantič (1921–1943), poet * Jurij Japelj (1744–1807), philologist * Rudolf Maister (1874–1934), military leader * Elizabeth S. Selden (1887–1970), dancer and writer * Jakob Savinšek (1922–1961), sculptor and illustrator * Bojan Kraut (1908–1991), engineer * Marjan Šarec (born 1977), politician and actor

Gallery

File:Kamnik south.JPG, Southern part of Kamnik with suburbs File:Upper Kamnik valley and Alps.JPG, Kamnik's northern suburbs with the Kamnik–Savinja Alps in the background File:R Maister-Birthhouse-Kamnik-Slovenia.JPG, House where Rudolf Maister was born File:Kamnik-Valvasor.jpg, A copper engraving of Kamnik in 1689 File:Kamnik - Mali grad.jpg, Little Castle File:Kamnik - Castle Zaprice.jpg, Zaprice Castle File:Kamnik - Franciscan monastery.jpg, Franciscan monastery

References

External links

*
Kamnik on Geopedia
*
Visit Kamnik
official page of tourist information centre
Kamnik
official page of municipality (in Slovene)

Burger.si. {{Authority control Cities and towns in Upper Carniola Populated places in the Municipality of Kamnik