Upper Carniola

[[Image:UpperCarniolaLocationMap.png|300px|thumb|Upper Carniola in Slovenia]] '''Upper Carniola''' ({{lang-sl|Gorenjska}}; {{lang-de|Oberkrain}}) is a traditional region of [[Slovenia]], the northern mountainous part of the larger [[Carniola]] region. The centre of the region is [[Kranj]], while other urban centers include [[Jesenice (Slovenia)|Jesenice]], [[Tržič]], [[Škofja Loka]], [[Kamnik]], and [[Domžale]]. == Historical background == Its origins can be traced back to the 17th century, when the [[Habsburg Monarchy|Habsburg]] duchy of [[Duchy of Carniola|Carniola]] was divided into three administrative districts, given by the scholar [[Johann Weikhard von Valvasor]] in his 1689 work ''[[The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola]]''. The districts were known in German as ''Kreise'' (''kresija'' in Slovene): Upper Carniola with its centre in [[Ljubljana]], comprising the north of the duchy, [[Lower Carniola]], comprising the east and south-east, with its centre in [[Novo Mesto]], and [[Inner Carniola]] comprising the west and south-west of the duchy, with its centre in [[Postojna]]. This division remained, in different arrangements, up to the 1860s, when the old administrative districts were abolished and Upper Carniola was subdivided into the smaller [[Austrian Empire|Austrian]] ''[[Districts of Austria|Bezirke]]'' of Kranj, [[Radovljica]] and [[Kamnik]]. Nevertheless, the regional identity remained strong also thereafter. Upon the dissolution of [[Austria-Hungary]] after [[World War I]], when Carniola ceased to exist as a separate political and geographical unit being incorporated into the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes]], the Carniolan regional identity soon faded away, but the regional identification with its sub-units (Upper, Lower and, to a lesser extent, Inner Carniola) remained strong. [[File:Sorica Oberkrain Slowenien 20092009 40.jpg|thumb|240px|Upper Carniola near [[Spodnja Sorica]]]] == Geographical extension == Upper Carniola is bounded by Carinthia (i.e. the [[Austria]]n state of [[Carinthia (state)|Carinthia]] and [[Slovenian Carinthia]]) in the north, the historic [[Lower Styria]] (''Štajerska'') region in the east and the [[Slovenian Littoral]] (''Primorska'') in the west. In the south, the [[Ljubljanica]] and [[Sava]] rivers form the border to [[Inner Carniola]] and [[Lower Carniola]] resp. The landscape is characterised by the mountains of the [[Southern Limestone Alps]], predominantly by the [[Julian Alps]] and the [[Karavanke]] range at its northern rim. Historically, Ljubljana was part of Upper Carniola. However, already in the 19th century, it started to be considered as a separate unit; already by the late 18th century, there are very few reference to the people of Ljubljana as "Upper Carniolans" (''Gorenjci'', ''Oberkrainer''): it was a general perception that Upper Carniola proper starts only north of Ljubljana. Since the 19th century, [[Kranj]], not Ljubljana, is considered as the unofficial capital of Upper Carniola. Nowadays, the borders of Upper Carniola are usually identified with those of the Slovene [[Statistical regions of Slovenia|statistical region]] of [[Gorenjska statistical region|Gorenjska]], though the areas are only roughly congruent. E.g. the municipality of [[Jezersko, Slovenia|Jezersko]] used to be part of the [[Duchy of Carinthia]], in 1918 it was occupied by [[Slovenes|Slovene]] volunteers and annexed to Yugoslavia by the 1919 [[Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)|Treaty of Saint-Germain]]. Nevertheless it is today generally considered as an integral part of Upper Carniola, rather than of [[Slovenian Carinthia]]. == Culture and traditions == [[Image:Map of Slovenian dialects.svg|thumb|240px|Map of groups of [[Slovene dialects]], with the [[Upper Carniolan dialect group]] in dark green. The [[Rovte dialect group]], in purple, extends in the eastern areas of the regions, while dialects from the [[Carinthian dialect group]], in brown, are spoken in the region's north-westernmost edge.]] === Language === Traditionally, most of the people of Upper Carniola spoke the Upper Carniolan dialect (''gorenjsko narečje''), which is one of the geographically most extended and linguistically most compact [[Slovene dialects]]. It covers most of the province, except for some peripheric areas in south-western and north-western Upper Carniola, and it also extends to the northern suburbs of Ljubljana. It belongs to the Upper Carniolan dialectal group, one of the seven dialect groups in which the Slovene language is divided. The group also includes the ''Selško'' dialect, spoken in the mountainous Upper Carniolan villages of [[Železniki]], [[Selca, Slovenia|Selca]], [[Dražgoše]] and [[Davča]]. These two Upper Carniolan dialects are spoken in the vast majority of Upper Carniola: this convergence of linguistic and geographical borers is quite exceptional in Slovenia, and it reinforces the cohesiveness of Upper Carniolan regional identity. Nevertheless, other dialects are spoken in Upper Carniola, as well: in the village of [[Rateče]], people speak a [[Carinthian Slovene]] dialect, and in the area around [[Kranjska Gora]] and [[Gozd Martuljek]], a transitional dialect between the [[Carinthian dialect group|Carinthian]] and [[Upper Carniolan dialect group]] is spoken. In the mountainous areas of eastern Upper Carniola (mostly in the municipalities of [[Škofja Loka]] and [[Gorenja vas-Poljane]]), dialects from the [[Rovte dialect group]] are spoken. [[Image:KosovaGrascina2.jpg|thumb|right|235px|Upper Carniolan folk costumes]] [[File:Traditional costume Slovenia Brdo 20080610.jpg|thumb|left|235px|Female traditional costume with the typical hat, called ''avba''.]] Beginning in the 18th century, the [[Upper Carniolan dialect group|Upper Carniolan dialect]] became the basis on which standard Slovene was developed. During the late Enlightenment and early Romantic period, many of the most important Slovene authors and philologists came from the region: [[Marko Pohlin]], [[Jurij Japelj]], [[Anton Tomaž Linhart]], [[Jernej Kopitar]], [[Matija Čop]], and [[Janez Bleiweis]]. The poet and journalist [[Valentin Vodnik]], who was born in [[Šiška]], now a suburb of Ljubljana, also wrote in the Upper Carniolan dialect. The first two Slovene language newspapers, ''[[Lublanske novice]]'' (1797–1800) and ''[[Kmetijske in rokodelske novice]]'' were also published in the Upper Carniolan regional variety of Slovene. The poetic language of [[France Prešeren]], the Slovenian [[national poet]], also has many specific Upper Carniolan features. Most of the Slovene literary production from that period (1780–1840) thus had recognizable Upper Carniolan linguistic features. In the 1840s and 1850s, many of these features were removed from the literary standard; nevertheless, a basic agreement was reached among Slovene philologist, according to which the vowel system in the standard language was taken from the Upper Carniolan dialect, and the consonant system from [[Lower Carniolan dialect group|Lower Carniolan]]. Despite several special distinctive features, the Slovene spoken in Upper Carniola is closer to the standard language than anywhere else in Slovenia. === Folklore and music === In many ways, the folklore of Upper Carniola is considered the prototype of Slovene national folklore. The Upper Carniolan folk costume is frequently used as the representation of the Slovene national costume. In the mid 19th century, during the [[Slovene national revival]], the Slovene nationals took the national costume from [[Bled]] and transformed it in the Slovenian national costume. Upper Carniola is also important for Slovene folklore because of the music. In the 1950s, the folk musician [[Slavko Avsenik]] popularized a modernized version of the Upper Carniolan folk music. ==External links== * [http://www.gorenjskiglas.si/novice/priloga_moja_gorenjska/index.php?action=clanek&id=18737 Kje so naše meje?]. About the borders of Upper Carniola. {{sl icon}} {{coord missing|Slovenia}}