Podreča

Podreča (pronounced [pɔˈdɾeːtʃa]; in older sources also Podreče,German: Podretsche) is a village on the right bank of the Sava River in the City Municipality of Kranj in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.

Name

Podreča was attested in written sources in 1334 as Patriarchsdorf, and in 1437 as de Patriarchali villa. The name is derived from *Podreča (vas) (literally, 'patriarch's village'); the first element is a possessive adjective from the noun podreka 'patriarch'. In the Middle Ages the village was a property of the Patriarchate of Aquileia, and so the name refers to historical ownership. A small rise neat the settlement known as Abbot's Hill (Slovene: Opatji hrib) is also reminiscent of this ecclesiastical heritage.

History

In 1929 a monument was set up behind the church, marking the former site of the house where the Slovene poet and writer Simon Jenko (1835–1869) was born. There were formerly a sawmill and grain mill in the village, but these sites were flooded when the Sava River was dammed for the Medvode hydroelectric plant in 1953, raising the water level by 5 meters.