Gradac, Metlika

Gradac (pronounced [ˈɡɾaːdats]; German: Gradaz)[2] is a village in the Municipality of Metlika in the White Carniola area of southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia on the Lahinja River. It is now included in the Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region.[3] The village is best known for well-preserved Gradac Castle.

Gradac
Gradac is located in Slovenia
Gradac
Gradac
Location in Slovenia
Coordinates: 45°36′48.41″N 15°14′37.87″E
Country Slovenia
Traditional regionWhite Carniola
Statistical regionSoutheast Slovenia
MunicipalityMetlika
Area
 • Total5.97 km2 (2.31 sq mi)
Elevation
150 m (490 ft)
Population
 (2002)
 • Total419
[1]

Community

Gradac has a railway station, a post office, bars and cafes, and a small industrial park. Traditionally many craftspeople (stonemasons, locksmiths, wainwrights, wheelwrights, and potters) and farmers lived in the village.

It also has an outdoor sports field for handball, basketball, and soccer. It is located next to the new fire station, which was built in the 1980s. A small airport, mainly for gliders and light aircraft, is located in nearby Prilozje. This airfield was originally built in World War II in order to allow allied aircraft to land to evacuate wounded soldiers and civilians and to deliver other humanitarian aid such as medicine.[4][5]

History

Gradac Castle
Gradac Castle in the 17th century
Gradac Castle in 2012

Gradac Castle is castle with a moat and located on a curve of the Lahinja River. It has been declared a national cultural heritage landmark of Slovenia.[6] Gradac Castle was first mentioned in written documents in 1228.

The castle island is mostly covered by a large Renaissance park that is neglected and overgrown. It includes a garden, remnants of an alley, and the mausoleum of the last owner (named Gusič), who was a businessman from Zagreb. There are plans to restore the castle and renew the park. The Municipality of Metlika repaired the roof of the castle to prevent further decay at end of the 1990s.[7] However, talks with potential investors from Italy and Ireland have been unsuccessful.[8]

Public discussion about the future of the castle intensified again in 2006. This happened when the Slovenian regional development program for southeast Slovenia was discussed[9] and right before the regional elections.[10][11][12][13]

Since the summer of 2006, locals have begun a relatively successful campaign to inform the Slovenian public about the neglected castle and the potential for it to serve as a hotel in order to develop tourism in this region.[14][15][16] Following local initiatives, the Metlika municipal authorities and the Ministry of Culture in Ljubljana became more actively involved. There are plans to set up a hotel in the castle.[17][18][19][20]

In March 2009, MP Renata Brunskole, who was also mayor of Metlika, asked Minister of Culture Majda Širca about government plans for the castle.[21] Although the minister's response was not encouraging, the ministry of internal affairs included the castle in the project Invest in Slovene Tourism.[22]

World War II

On 18 June 1944 the Slovenian Red Cross was founded in Gradac.[23] A military school for Partisan officers was located in the castle during World War II between 1944 and 1945.

Gradac was bombed on the afternoon of 30 January 1945. Apparently German intelligence found out that a large number of wounded waited in the village for evacuation through the nearby Partisan airports of Otok or Krasinec. At 4 pm on that day, six or seven German aircraft dropped bombs on the center of Gradac. Five people were killed and eight wounded. The new bridge over the Lahinja, two buildings, and the saw were completely destroyed. Fourteen other houses were heavily damaged.[4]: 14ff. 

Other historical buildings
Hanzel House
Macele (Mazelle) House

The old fire station is located right at the intersection of the roads to Črnomelj and Semič. The new fire station is located at the end of the village on the road to Črnomelj. Right there are also a soccer field and a field for handball and basketball. An old scale for weighing livestock can also be seen near the old fire station. A number of buildings have been listed as cultural heritage monuments by the Slovenian Ministry of Culture. These are:

  • The Baricin House (Gradac no. 86). The house has a U-shaped floor plan.[24]
  • The Hanzel House (Gradac no. 54). The old staircase was decorated with a large painting of traditional White Carniolan dress.[25] This building is currently being refurbished.
  • The Macele (or Mazelle) House (Gradac no. 55). Until the 1980s, the local post office was located in this building. The Slovenian Red Cross was established there in 1944. The building itself dates to 1889.[26]
  • The Grof Farm

The community has built a wastewater treatment facility that is now fully operational. All of the houses are now connected to the sewer network.

References
  1. Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
  2. Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v dravnem zboru, vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 10.
  3. Metlika municipal site
  4. Zvonko Rus. 1979. Partizanska letališča in spuščališča v Beli krajini (Partisan airfields and drop areas in White Carniola). Ljubljana: Učne delavnice.
  5. White Carniola Flying Club (in Slovene) Archived 24 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Odlok o razglasitvi območja gradu in Gradu Gradac za kulturni spomenik državnega pomena, Uradni list RS 55/2002 27. 6. 2002 (Declaration of Gradac Castle as a Cultural Monument by the Slovenian Government)
  7. Article in the newspaper Dolenjski List
  8. Država obljublja ureditev gradu, Delo, Ljubljana, 5 October 2006
  9. Novo Mesto Development Centre site Archived 7 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Grad v Gradcu propada, Dolenjski list, Novo Mesto, 3 August 2006
  11. Pozabljena Bela krajina, Delo, Ljubljana, 18 September 2006
  12. Bela krajina ima veliko priložnosti, Dolenjski list, Novo Mesto, 21 September 2006
  13. Mladina
  14. Obisk vlade, Belokranjec, Gradac, July 2007, 7(10): 3.
  15. Državi ni vseeno, kaj bo z gradaškim gradom, Dolenjski list, Novo Mesto, 26 July 2007, 30 (3021), 58: 1.
  16. Zapisnik seje z Ministrstvo za kulturo in občino Metliko v Kulturnem domu Gradac, 23 September 2007, KS Gradac
  17. Mladina and Dolenjski list
  18. "MLADINA.si".
  19. Država naj bi začela obnavljati grad Gradac, Delo, Ljubljana, 10 October 2007
  20. Dol-list.si
  21. Kakšna bo usoda gradu v Gradcu?, Dolenjski list, Novo Mesto, page 8, 12 March 2009
  22. Invest in Slovene Tourism Archived 11 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  23. History of the Slovenian Red Cross (in Slovene)
  24. "13674: Gradac – Hiša Gradac 86" [13674: Gradac – House Gradac No. 86]. Register nepremične kulturne dediščine [Registry of Immovable Cultural Heritage] (in Slovenian). Ministrstvo za kulturo Republike Slovenije. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  25. "13675: Gradac – Hiša Gradac 54" [13675: Gradac – House Gradac No. 54]. Register nepremične kulturne dediščine [Registry of Immovable Cultural Heritage] (in Slovenian). Ministrstvo za kulturo Republike Slovenije. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  26. "13676: Gradac – Hiša Gradac 55" [13676: Gradac – House Gradac No. 55]. Register nepremične kulturne dediščine [Registry of Immovable Cultural Heritage] (in Slovenian). Ministrstvo za kulturo Republike Slovenije. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
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