Širje

Širje Marija-Širje (until 1955)
Širje Location in Slovenia
Coordinates: 46°5′45.58″N 15°9′57.77″E
Country	Slovenia
Traditional region	Styria
Statistical region	Savinja
Municipality	Laško
Area
• Total	2.21 km^2 (0.85 sq mi)
Elevation	461.3 m (1,513.5 ft)
Population  (2002)
• Total	48
[1]

Širje (pronounced [ˈʃiːɾjɛ]) is a settlement in the Municipality of Laško in eastern Slovenia. It lies on the left bank of the Sava River, immediately northwest of Zidani Most. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. It is now included with the rest of the municipality in the Savinja Statistical Region.[2]

Name

The name of the settlement was changed from Marija-Širje (literally, 'Our Lady of Širje') to Širje in 1955. The name was changed on the basis of the 1948 Law on Names of Settlements and Designations of Squares, Streets, and Buildings as part of efforts by Slovenia's postwar communist government to remove religious elements from toponyms.[3][4][5]

Church

The parish church, known as Marija Širje, is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje. It was originally a Romanesque building that was extended in 1747 and partially rebuilt in 1873.[6]

References

1. Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
2. Laško municipal site
3. Spremembe naselij 1948–95. 1996. Database. Ljubljana: Geografski inštitut ZRC SAZU, DZS.
4. Premk, F. 2004. Slovenska versko-krščanska terminologija v zemljepisnih imenih in spremembe za čas 1921–1967/68. Besedoslovne lastnosti slovenskega jezika: slovenska zemljepisna imena. Ljubljana: Slavistično društvo Slovenije, pp. 113–132.
5. Urbanc, Mimi & Matej Gabrovec. 2005. Krajevna imena: poligon za dokazovanje moči in odraz lokalne identitete. Geografski vestnik 77(2): 25–43.
6. Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage reference number ešd 3155

External links

• Media related to Širje at Wikimedia Commons
• Širje on Geopedia