Litija (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 90, 92–93.) is a town in the Litija Basin 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 ...

. It is the seat of the

Municipality of Litija The Municipality of Litija (; ) is a Municipalities of Slovenia, municipality in central Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Litija. The area is part of the traditional Upper Carniola, Upper and Lower Carniola regions. The entire ...

. It is located in the valley of the Sava River, east of the capital

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

, in the traditional region of Upper Carniola. The entire municipality is now included in the

Central Sava Statistical Region The Central Sava Statistical RegionBoršič, Darja, & Alenka Kavkler. 2009. Modeling Unemployment Duration in Slovenia Using Cox Regression Models. ''Transition Studies Review'' 54(1): 145–156, p. 148. () is a statistical region in Slovenia. T ...

; until January 2014 it was part of the Central Slovenia Statistical Region. The town is home to about 6,500 people.

Name

Litija was mentioned in written documents in 1256 as ''apud Litigiam'' and ''apud Lvtyam'' (and as ''Lutya'' in 1363, ''Littai'' in 1431, ''Luttey'' in 1444, and ''propre Lutiam'' in 1480). Medieval transcriptions indicate that the name was originally *''Ljutija'', derived from *''Ľutoviďa (vьsь)'' (literally, 'Ľutovidъ's village'). Suggestions that ''-ija'' is a suffix or that the name is derived from German ''Lutte'' '(mining) drain' are less likely. Other pseudoetymologies include Johann Weikhard von Valvasor's suggestion that the name evolved from ''litus'', the Latin word for 'riverbank'. The town was officially known as ''Littai'' in German until 1918.

History

Litija developed as a trading post between

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, Ljubljana, and

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. The town gained market rights in the 14th century. In Roman times mining developed in Litija and remained one of the primary sources of income until the 1965, when the biggest of the mines closed. In 1849 the Austrian Southern Railway reached Litija and boosted its economy. This development, however, also meant a decline in some of the traditional local professions. The Litija post office was opened in December 1852. After the Second World War, Litija annexed the formerly independent settlements of Podsitarjevec, Gradec, Grbin, and Podkraj.

Landmarks

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 Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

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.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 1970

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Litija include: * France Bezlaj (1910–1993), linguist * Luka Svetec (1826–1921), politician *Peter Jereb (1867–1951), composer *Viktor Parma (1858–1924), composer * Rudolf Badjura (1881–1963), writer and mountaineer *Mira Pregelj (1905–1966), painter *Milan Borišek (1920–1950), glider pilot

Gallery

File:Litija Turn.jpg, Turn Castle File:SLO-Litija5.JPG, Litija lies on both banks of the Sava River Litija_2021.jpg, Downtown Litija in 2021

References

External links

*
Litija on Geopedia
{{Authority control Populated places in the Municipality of Litija Cities and towns in Upper Carniola