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 The Municipality of Kamnik (; ) is a municipality in northern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Kamnik. Today it is part of the Central Slovenia Statistical Region. It is the 15th-largest municipality by area in Slovenia. Sett ...

, which encompasses a large part of the

Kamnik Alps 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 List of cities and towns in Slovenia, ninth-l ...

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 Andechs is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria in Germany. It is renowned in Germany and beyond for Andechs Abbey, a Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB ...

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 Bakovnik (, ''Intelligenzblatt zur Laibacher Zeitung'', no. 141. November 24, 1849, p. 19.) is a former settlement in the Municipality of Kamnik in central Slovenia. It is now part of the town of Kamnik. The area is part of the traditional region o ...

, 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 Fran Albreht (17 November 1889 – 11 February 1963) was a Slovenian poet, editor, politician and partisan. He also published under the pseudonym Rusmir. He was born as Franc Albrecht in the Upper Carniolan town of Kamnik in what was then the Aus ...

(1889–1963), author * France Balantič (1921–1943), poet *

Jurij Japelj Jurij Japelj, also known in German as Georg Japel, (11 April 1744 – 11 October 1807) was a Slovene Jesuit priest, translator, and philologist. He was part of the Zois circle, a group of Carniolan scholars and intellectuals that were instrumenta ...

(1744–1807), philologist *

Rudolf Maister Rudolf Maister (pen name: Vojanov; 29 March 1874 – 26 July 1934) was a Slovene officer (armed forces), military officer, poet and activism, political activist. The soldiers who fought under Maister's command in northern Slovenia became k ...

(1874–1934), military leader * Elizabeth S. Selden (1887–1970), dancer and writer *

Jakob Savinšek Jakob Savinšek (4 February 1922 – 17 August 1961) was a Slovene sculptor, illustrator, and poet. Life Savinšek was born in the Upper Carniolan town of Kamnik, then part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (now in Slovenia), wh ...

(1922–1961), sculptor and illustrator *

Bojan Kraut Bojan Kraut (April 12, 1908 – August 22, 1991) was a Slovene mechanical engineer who wrote "''Strojniški Priročnik''" (English: "''Mechanical Engineering Handbook''"), a well-known reference text from former Yugoslavia. Biography Kraut was ...

(1908–1991), engineer *

Marjan Šarec Marjan Šarec (born 2 December 1977) is a Slovenian politician, actor and comedian who served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from 2018 to 2020. He also served as the Minister of Defence in the government of Prime Minister Robert Golob from June 202 ...

(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 The Kamnik–Savinja Alps () are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps. They lie in northern Slovenia, except for the northernmost part, which lies in Austria. The western part of the range was named the Kamnik Alps () in 1778 by the sc ...

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