Stara Loka Explained

Official Name:Stara Loka
Pushpin Map:Slovenia
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Slovenia
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Slovenia
Subdivision Type1:Traditional region
Subdivision Name1:Upper Carniola
Subdivision Type2:Statistical region
Subdivision Name2:Upper Carniola
Subdivision Type3:Municipality
Subdivision Name3:Škofja Loka
Area Total Km2:0.23
Population As Of:2002
Population Total:808
Population Blank1 Title:Ethnicities
Population Blank2 Title:Religions
Coordinates:46.1727°N 14.3015°W
Elevation M:355.6
Footnotes:[1]

Stara Loka (pronounced as /sl/; German: Altlack[2]) is a settlement in the Municipality of Škofja Loka in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.

It is one of the oldest Slovene settlements first mentioned in documents concerning the lands Emperor Otto II granted to Bishop Abraham of Freising in the Duchy of Bavaria, dating to 973 AD.[3] It was the original settlement of Loka and by 1286 it was already mentioned as Stara Loka (Old Loka).

Church

The Saint George's Parish Church is also believed to have been one of the first churches in Carniola and is also one of the oldest parishes, first mentioned in 1074, when it covered the entire area of what is now Škofja Loka.[4] 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.[5]

Stara Loka Castle

Opposite the church is a mansion known as Stara Loka Castle (Slovenian: Starološki grad) or Strahl Castle (Slovenian: Strahlov grad). It has a partly preserved defence tower from the late 15th century. The moat 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.[6] A unique sundial that can be read by the blind was built in front of it in 1998.[7]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.stat.si/eng/index.asp Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
  2. Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru, vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 62.
  3. http://www.skofjaloka.info/index.php?page=zgodbe&meni=pm&lang=si Škofja Loka Tourist Association site
  4. http://www.zupnija-staraloka.org/ Stara Loka Parish site
  5. http://mesto.skofjaloka.si/?id=66 Škofja Loka municipal site
  6. http://www.slovenia.info/en/dvorec/Starolo%C5%A1ki-ali-Strahlov-grad.htm?dvorec=2493&lng=2 Slovenian Tourist Board site
  7. http://www.bojanfrantar.si/moje_soncne_ure.html Bojan Frantar, sculptor and designer of the sundial for the blind in Stara Loka, website with images