Velike Bloke (, ) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

Municipality of Bloke A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

in the

Inner Carniola Inner Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the southwestern part of the larger Carniola region. It comprises the Hrušica (plateau), Hrušica karst plateau up to Postojna Gate, bordering the Slovenian Littoral (the Goriška, Gor ...

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 ...

.Bloke municipal site
/ref>

Name

The name ''Velike Bloke'' literally means 'big Bloke' and originally distinguished the settlement from '' Male Bloke'' (literally, 'little Bloke'). However, after the parish church was built in Male Bloke, that settlement became known as ''Fara'' (literally, 'parish'). The name ''Bloke'' itself was first attested in written sources in 1230 as ''Oblach'' (and as ''Oblukch'' in 1260, ''Oblakh'' in 1360, and ''Obloc'' in 1581). These early transcriptions indicate that the name was originally ''*Obloke'', probably derived from the prepositional phrase ''*ob(ь) lǫky'' or ''*ob(ь) lǫkaxъ'' 'next to the flood-meadow(s)'. Less likely theories connect the name to the meanings 'next to rough terrain' or 'arc, arch'.

Church

The local church in the settlement is dedicated to the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

and belongs to the

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 ...

Bloke ''Bloke'' is a slang term for a common man in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The earliest known usage is from the early 19th century, when it was recorded as a London slang term. The word's origin is un ...

Cultural heritage

A stone bridge over Bloščica Creek northwest of the center of Velike Bloke is known as the Napoleon Bridge () and is registered as cultural heritage. However, it was built in 1858 and has no connection to Napoleon; the reason for its name is unknown.

References

External links

*
Velike Bloke on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Bloke {{Bloke-geo-stub