The Municipality of Brda (; , ) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

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 ...

. It is located in the

Slovenian Littoral The Slovene Littoral, or simply Littoral (, ; ; ), is one of the traditional regions of Slovenia. The littoral in its name – for a coastal-adjacent area – recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg poss ...

region, extending from the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

border to the Soča River. It is bounded by Sabotin Hill () to the east and Korada Hill () to the north.Brda municipal site
/ref> The people speak a distinctive Slovene dialect belonging to the Littoral dialect group.

Geography

The municipality comprises the Slovenian part of the

Gorizia Hills The Gorizia Hills ( or ''Collio''; or ''Brda''; ) is a hilly microregion in western Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies on the right bank of the Soča (''Isonzo'') River, north of the Italian town of Gorizia, after which it is named. The r ...

(, ), which are one of the most important

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

-producing

microregion Microregion is a designation for territorial entities. Austria Brazil Klaus Roth and Ulf Brunnbauer A microregion is a geographic region of a size between that of a community and that of a district.p. 18, "What's in a Region? Southeast Europ ...

s in Slovenia. It enjoys a mild

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

and it is protected from the strong Bora wind, which frequently blows in other parts of the Slovenian Littoral.

Settlements

In addition to the municipal seat of Dobrovo, the municipality also includes the following settlements: * Barbana * Belo * Biljana * Brdice pri Kožbani * Brdice pri Neblem * Breg pri Golem Brdu * Brestje * Brezovk * Ceglo * Dolnje Cerovo * Drnovk * Fojana * Golo Brdo * Gonjače * Gornje Cerovo * Gradno * Hlevnik * Hruševlje * Hum * Imenje * Kojsko * Kozana * Kozarno * Kožbana * Krasno * Medana * Neblo * Nozno * Plešivo * Podsabotin * Pristavo * Senik * Slapnik * Slavče * Šlovrenc * Šmartno * Snežatno * Snežeče * Vedrijan * Vipolže * Višnjevik * Vrhovlje pri Kojskem * Vrhovlje pri Kožbani * Zali Breg

Economy

Agriculture is an important part of the local economy: besides grapes,

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...

are the most important agricultural product in the municipality, followed by

apricots An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...

figs The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...

, and

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...

s. Together with the

Vipava Valley The Vipava Valley (; , , ) is a valley in the Slovenian Littoral, roughly between the village of Podnanos to the east and the border with Italy to the west. The main towns are Ajdovščina and Vipava. Geography The narrow valley of the Vipav ...

, Brda produces most of the

persimmons The persimmon () is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus ''Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Chinese and Japanese kaki persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki''. In 2022, China produced 77% of the world's pe ...

in Slovenia. Small amounts of

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

are also produced. The wine varieties grown in Brda include

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

Pinot gris Pinot gris, pinot grigio (, ), or ''Grauburgunder'' is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the pinot noir variety, it normally has a pinkish-gray hue, accounting for its name, but th ...

, and Sauvignon vert.

Notable people

Brda is the native land of the poet

Alojz Gradnik Alojz Gradnik (August 3, 1882 – July 14, 1967) was a Slovenian poet and translation, translator. Life Gradnik was born in the village of Medana in the Gorizia Hills region, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is today in the Muni ...

, who was born in the village of Medana.

In popular culture

The Slovenian sitcom ''Ena žlahtna štorija'' is set in Brda.

References

External links

*
Municipality of Brda on Geopedia

Municipality of Brda website

About Goriska Brda
{{Authority control Brda 1994 establishments in Slovenia