Klenik, Litija

Klenik (pronounced [ˈkleːnik]) is a settlement east of Vače in the Municipality of Litija in central Slovenia. Traditionally the area was part of Lower Styria and is now included with the rest of the municipality in the Central Sava Statistical Region; until January 2014 the municipality was part of the Central Slovenia Statistical Region.

Hallstatt Archaeological Site in Vače

North of Klenik and east of Slemšek Hill (680 metres or 2,230 feet), near Vače, is the Hallstatt Archaeological Site in Vače, where the Vače situla, one of the most notable archaeological treasures of Slovenia, was discovered in the Ronkar Ravines (Slovene: Ronkarjeve drage, part of Klenik).

Church

The local church, which stands on Slemšek Hill, is dedicated to the Holy Cross and belongs to the Parish of Vače. It was restored in the 1990s. It was built in 1898 on the site of an earlier structure damaged in the 1895 earthquake. The furnishings date from 1906 and were created by the Ljubljana sculptor Andrej Rovšek Jr. (1864–1907).

Litija

Litija (pronounced [liˈtiːja]; German: Littai) is a town in the Litija Basin in central Slovenia. It is located in the valley of the Sava River, east of the capital Ljubljana, in the traditional region of Upper Carniola. The entire municipality is now included in the Central Sava Statistical Region; until January 2014 it was part of the Central Slovenia Statistical Region. The town is home to about 6,500 people.

Name

Litija was mentioned in written documents in 1256 as apud Litigiam and apud Lvtyam (and as Lutya in 1363, Littai in 1431, Luttey in 1444, and propre Lutiam in 1480). Medieval transcriptions indicate that the name was originally *Ljutija, derived from *Ľutoviďa (vьsь) (literally, 'Ľutovidъ's village'). Suggestions that -ija is a suffix or that the name is derived from German Lutte '(mining) drain' are less likely. Other pseudoetymologies include Johann Weikhard von Valvasor's suggestion that the name evolved from litus, the Latin word for 'riverbank'. The town was officially known as Littai in German until 1918.