The Zaka Valley () is a valley in the

Julian Alps The Julian Alps (, , , , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretches from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large part of the Julian Alps is inclu ...

in northwestern

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 ...

Geography

The Zaka Valley lies at the west end of

Lake Bled Lake Bled () is a lake in the Julian Alps of the Upper Carniolan region of northwestern Slovenia, where it adjoins the town of Bled. The area is a tourist destination. The lake is from Ljubljana International Airport and from the capital ci ...

.Knific, Timotej. 1984. "Arheološki zemljevid Blejskega kota v zgodnjem srednjem veku." ''Kronika'' 32(2/3): 99–110, p. 102. The railway between

Jesenice Jesenice (, ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru'', vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 144.) is the tenth-largest town in Slovenia, located in the traditional province of Upper C ...

and

Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...

runs above it. Locally, a distinction is made between the Little Zaka Valley (), originally at the extreme southeast part of the lake, east of Little Osojnica Hill (, ) where Jezernica Creek empties into the lake in the hamlet of Mlino, and the Big Zaka Valley (), which lies at the westernmost part of the lake between Little Osojnica Hill and Kuhovnica Hill (), through which Zaka Creek flows, emptying into Zaka Bay.Čop, Dušan. 1998. "Ime Zaka in njegov izvor." ''Jezik in slovstvo'' 43(4): 173–174. The name ''Mala Zaka'' is now applied to the area around the rowing club at the extreme northwest part of the lake. Swimming areas are also located in the bays below the Big Zaka Valley and Little Zaka Valley.

Name

The name ''Zaka'' was first recorded in 1185 as ''Zake''.Bezlaj, France. 1977. "O imenih Sneberje, Sostro in drugo." ''Jezik in slovstvo'' 22(8): 225–227, p. 225.

France Bezlaj France Bezlaj (September 19, 1910 – April 27, 1993) was a Slovenian linguist. He was born in Litija.Jakopin, Franc. 1987. France Bezlaj. ''Enciklopedija Slovenije'', vol. 1. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, pp. 258–259. He received a degree in ...

suggested that the name ''Zaka'' was a contraction of *''zějaka'' 'opening between hills'. However, Dušan Čop has proposed that the name ''Zaka'' is a fused prepositional phrase derived from ''za Ak-'' 'behind Ak'. The name ''Ak'' refers to two parcels of land, Upper and Lower Ak (, ), and the Ak Mansion (, later renamed ''Partizanka''). Popular etymology associated the mansion's name with the initials of its owner, Anton Kokalj (1851–1938). However, the name ''Ak'' is believed to be of Celtic origin (although there are also parallels of toponyms with ''Ak-'' from German ''Hacken'' 'hook').

History

Archaeological finds from the

Urnfield culture The Urnfield culture () was a late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremation, cremating the dead and placin ...

and Roman coins have been found in the Zaka Valley, and there is a prehistoric Celtic burial site between Upper and Lower Ak. During the Second World War, members of the Carinthian People's League () renovated two ski jumps in the Zaka Valley."Iz domovine." 1941. ''Karawanken-Bote'' 1(35): 4.

References

External links

Zaka Valley on Geopedia

Big Zaka Valley at hribi.net (photos)
{{coord, 46, 21, 40.74, N, 14, 4, 34.08, E, region:SI, display=title Valleys in Upper Carniola Bled Sava basin Valleys of the Julian Alps