Stara Loka (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 62.) is a settlement in the Municipality of Škofja Loka in the

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 ...

region 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 ...

. It is one of the oldest Slovene settlements first mentioned in documents concerning the lands

Emperor Otto II Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy. Otto II was ...

granted to Bishop Abraham of

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Isar river in ...

in the

Duchy of Bavaria The Duchy of Bavaria () was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarians, Bavarian tribes and ruled by List of rulers of Bavaria, dukes (''duces'') ...

, dating to 973 AD. It was the original settlement of Loka and by 1286 it was already mentioned as ''Stara Loka'' (Old Loka).

Church

The

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in 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 ...

is also believed to have been one of the first churches in

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 ...

and is also one of the oldest

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es, first mentioned in 1074, when it covered the entire area of what is now Škofja Loka. It has been rebuilt a number of times, getting its current form in 1863. Tombs from the 16th and 17th centuries can still be seen in some of the side chapels.

Stara Loka Castle

Opposite the church is a mansion known as Stara Loka Castle () or Strahl Castle (). It has a partly preserved defence tower from the late 15th century. The

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

around the mansion is now filled in. It gets its name from the Strahl family, its 19th-century owners who partially rebuilt it and used it as a residence. It currently houses the Centre for the Blind and Partially Sighted and the Postal Museum. A unique

sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

that can be read by the blind was built in front of it in 1998.Bojan Frantar, sculptor and designer of the sundial for the blind in Stara Loka, website with images
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References

External links

*
Stara Loka on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Škofja Loka {{ŠkofjaLoka-geo-stub