Novi Svet

Coordinates: 45°54′25.2″N 14°8′34.76″E / 45.907000°N 14.1429889°E / 45.907000; 14.1429889
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Novi Svet
Novi Svet is located in Slovenia
Novi Svet
Novi Svet
Location in Slovenia
Coordinates: 45°54′25.2″N 14°8′34.76″E / 45.907000°N 14.1429889°E / 45.907000; 14.1429889
Country Slovenia
Traditional regionInner Carniola
Statistical regionCentral Slovenia
MunicipalityLogatec
Area
 • Total22.34 km2 (8.63 sq mi)
Elevation
525.9 m (1,725.4 ft)
Population
 (2002)
 • Total94
[1]

Novi Svet (pronounced [ˈnɔːʋi ˈsʋeːt], German: Neuwelt,[2] Italian: Mondonovo[3]) is a dispersed settlement in the hills west of Hotedršica in the Municipality of Logatec in the Inner Carniola region of Slovenia.[4]

Geography[edit]

Novi Svet ranges across elevations between 500 and 600 meters (1,600 and 2,000 ft) southwest of the road from Kalce to Hotedršica, extending to the northeast slope of the Hrušica Plateau. It includes the hamlets of Gorenji Novi Svet (German: Oberneuwelt,[2] Italian: Mondonovo di Sopra) to the northwest and Dolenji Novi Svet (German: Unterneuwelt) to the southeast,[2] as well as the isolated Vrbanček farm. The area is mostly covered by needleleaf forest with many karst dells, sinkholes, and caves. The village has little arable land and sparse meadows, and so its residents have traditionally made a living from forestry.[5]

Name[edit]

The name Novi Svet literally means 'new area, new territory'. The name refers to the fact that the area was settled more recently than neighboring villages after wooded land was cleared.[6][7]

History[edit]

The Russian Curve (Ruska rajda), a road built by Russian POWs during the First World War

Some Slavic settlement may have already taken place in Novi Svet as early as the sixth century. Novi Svet was mentioned in historical sources in the 15th century in connection with iron working; the blast furnace that it supplied shut down in the 1589 due to a lack of ore. Settlers are said to have arrived in larger numbers in Novi Svet from Veharše in nearby Medvedje Brdo after the iron mining was abandoned there in the late 16th century, and also during French rule in the early 19th century in an effort to avoid military service.[8]

Italian customs post
Italian border post
Interwar border infrastructure

During the First World War, Russian prisoners of war were used for labor in the area. The projects they worked on included building the road from Kalce to Podkraj; there is a curve along the road in the territory of Novi Svet known as Ruska rajda 'the Russian Curve', named after the prisoners.[9]

Between the First and Second World Wars, the territory of Novi Svet lay west of the Rapallo border, in the Kingdom of Italy. The remains of the Italian border and customs posts along the road from Hotedršica to Godovič are located in the northeastern territory of Novi Svet.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
  2. ^ a b c Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru, vol. 6: Kranjsko. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna. 1906. pp. 126–127.
  3. ^ Yugoslavia, Official Standard Names Approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names. Washington, DC: Office of Geography. 1961. p. 263.
  4. ^ Logatec municipal site
  5. ^ Savnik, Roman (1968). Krajevni leksikon Slovenije, vol. 1. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije. p. 183.
  6. ^ Habič, Peter (1968). Kraški svet med Idrijco in Vipavo. Ljubljana: Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti. p. 127.
  7. ^ Trobič, Milan (2016). Še vedno na prepihu : pripovedi iz dežele med Logatcem in Črnim vrhom, Uncem in Rovtami. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC. p. 16.
  8. ^ Bogataj, Franc (February 28, 1997). "Hotedršica". Logaške novice. No. 2. p. 12. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  9. ^ Boštjančič, Janko; Mlekuž, Dimitrij; Nadbath, Barbara (2018). Vojni ujetniki carske Rusije v prvi svetovni vojni na slovenskem ozemlju. Ljubljana: Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije. pp. 260–261. Retrieved July 3, 2022.

External links[edit]