Idrija

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Idrija

Idrija (Italian: Idria) is a small town and municipality

Municipalities of Slovenia

Slovenia is divided into 210 municipality , of which 11 have urban status.Slovenian language is an official language of all the municipalities....
in the Goriška

Goriška

Gori?ka or Gorizia is a traditional region in western Slovenia on the border of Italy. It is part of the wider traditional region of the Slovenian Littoral ....
region of Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north....
. It is known for its mercury

Mercury (element)

Mercury , also called quicksilver or hydrargyrum , is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. A heavy, silvery d-block metal, mercury is one of six elements that are liquid at or near room temperature and pressure....
mine

Mining

Mining is the extraction of value minerals or other geology materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, Sodium chloride and potash....
(currently in the process of closure) and lace.

Near Idrija there was notable archeological

Archaeology

Archaeology, archeology, or arch?ology is the science that studies Homo cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, Artifact , features, Biofact s, and cultural landscape....
find of an approximately 43,100 year-old juvenile cave bear

Cave Bear

The Cave Bear was a species of bear which lived in Europe during the Pleistocene and became extinct at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum about 27,500 years ago....
femur

Femur

The femur, or thigh bone, is the most proximal bone of the leg in vertebrates capable of walking or jumping, such as most land mammals, birds, many reptiles such as lizards, and amphibians such as frogs....
at Divje Babe

Divje Babe

The Divje Babe flute is a cave bear femur pierced by spaced holes that was found at the Divje Babe archaeology park located near Cerkno in northwestern Slovenia....
, which may be a prehistoric flute

Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike other woodwind instruments, a flute is a reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air against an edge....
. Under Austrian rule it was known as Idria. Mercury was discovered there in 1497, and mining productions were taken over by the government in 1580.

According to legend, a bucket maker working in a local spring spotted a small amount of liquid mercury over 500 years ago.

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Encyclopedia

Idrija (Italian: Idria) is a small town and municipality

Municipalities of Slovenia

Slovenia is divided into 210 municipality , of which 11 have urban status.Slovenian language is an official language of all the municipalities....
in the Goriška

Goriška

Gori?ka or Gorizia is a traditional region in western Slovenia on the border of Italy. It is part of the wider traditional region of the Slovenian Littoral ....
region of Slovenia

Slovenia

Mercury (element)

Mining

Archaeology

Cave Bear

The Cave Bear was a species of bear which lived in Europe during the Pleistocene and became extinct at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum about 27,500 years ago....
femur

Femur

Divje Babe

Flute

Cinnabar

Cinnabar, sometimes written cinnabarite, is a name applied to red mercury sulfide , or native vermilion, the common ore of mercury . The name comes from the Greek language - "kinnabari" - used by Theophrastus, and was probably applied to several distinct substances....
(mercury sulfide) ore. The subterranean shaft mine entrance known as Anthony's Shaft (Antonijev rov) is used today for tours of the upper levels, complete with life-sized vignettes of workers over the ages. The lower levels, which reach to almost 400 meters below the surface and are no longer being actively mined, are currently being remediated.

The ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is a town or city that has been completely abandoned by human inhabitants, usually because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as flood, government action, uncontrolled lawlessness or war....
of New Idria, California

New Idria, California

New Idria is an Unincorporated area town in San Benito County, California. It is named after a now-inoperative mercury mine of the same name....
, a site of mercury mining during the 19th-century California Gold Rush

California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California, California....
, was named after Idrija.

The Parish Church

Parish church

A parish church, in Christianity, is the local church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopalian church governance churches....
in the town is dedicated to Saint Joseph the Worker

Saint Joseph

Joseph "of the House of David" is known from the New Testament as the husband of Mary, mother of Jesus and although according to Christian tradition he was not the biological father of Jesus, he acted as his foster-father and as head of the Holy Family....
and belongs to the Koper Diocese

Diocese

In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglicanism, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a bishopric or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bi...
. There are three other churches in Idrija, dedicated to The Holy Trinity, Saint Anthony of Padua

Anthony of Padua

Saint Anthony also venerated as Saint Anthony of Lisbon and Saint Anthony of Padua, is a Catholic saint who was born in Lisbon, Portugal, as Fernando Martins de Bulh?es to a wealthy family and who died in Padua, Italy....
and to Our Lady of Sorrows

Our Lady of Sorrows

Our Lady of Sorrows , the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows , Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to in relations to sorrows in her life....
.

Famous natives and residents

Aleš Bebler, Slovene Communist leader, resistance fighter, and diplomat;
Stanko Bloudek, designer;
Aleš Car, writer;
Karel Dežman, Carniola
Carniola

Carniola is a Historical regions of Central Europe of Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918....
n politician and scholar;
Belsazar Hacquet
Belsazar Hacquet

Belsazar de la Motte Hacquet, was an Austrian physician and scientist who was born in Le Conquet, France. He studied in Vienna, and was a surgeon during the Seven Years' War....
; French natural scientist;
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini

Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italy poet, intellectual, film director, and writer. Pasolini distinguished himself as a journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, Painting and political figure....
, italian
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
film director
Film director

A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director visualizes the Screenplay, controlling a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of his or her vision....
and poet
Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
;
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli

Giovanni Antonio Scopoli was a Euroregion Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentinoean physician and natural history....
, Italian natural scientist.

External links

, official page of municipality (in Slovene)
, a page in English about the town and its history.