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Nazarje (Municipality, Slovenia)

Flag of Nazarje - Horizontal and vertical versions - Images by Željko Heimer, 21 January 2002

Presentation of Nazarje
Flag of Nazarje
Coat of arms of Nazarje

See also:

Presentation of Nazarje

The municipality of Nazarje (2,664 inhabitants on 30 June 2007; 43.4 sq. km, therefore one of the smallest municipalities in Slovenia by its area; municipal website) is located in the Upper Savinja valley. Formed in 1995 by separation from Mozirje, the municipality is made of the three local communities of Nazarje (including the villages of Nazarje, Dobletina, Prihova, Zavodice and Žlabor), Kokarje (incl. Kokarje, Čreta pri Kokarjah, Lačja vas, Potok and Pusto Polje) and Šmartno ob Dreti (incl. Šmartno ob Dreti, Brdo, Rovt pod Medino, Spodnje Kraše and Volog).

Nazarje developed around the castle of Vrbovec (lit., "among the willows"; in German, Altenburg, "the old castle"), built on a spur over the confluency of rivers Dreta and Savinja. Known since 1248 and completely revamped in 1480, the castle belonged successively to the Patriarchs of Aquileia, the Counts of Vovržan, the Counts of Celje and the Habsburgs Emperors. In 1615, the castle was purchased by the Diocese of Ljubljana, which owned it until the end of the Second World War.
The castle houses today the municipal administration and a museum presenting the heritage of forestry and woodcraft, once an important activity in the region. Forests still cover nearly 50% of the municipal territory.

The nearby hill of Gradišče (389 m) is topped by the church of the Virgin Mary and a Franciscan monastery built in 1632-1661, famous for its library founded in 1752 and renovated in 1996. The library owns two copies of the first translation of the Bible in Slovene, published in 1584 by the Protestant theologian Jurij Dalmatin (1547-1589), and the translation of the Gospels published by Primož Trubar (1508-1586), another Protestant theologian, in 1557.

Ivan Sache, 5 April 2009

Flag of Nazarje

The flag and arms of Nazarje are prescribed by decision Odlok o grbu, zastavi in pecatu občine Nazarje, adopted on 31 January 1996 and published in the official local gazette Uradno glasilo občin Mozirje, Nazarje, Gornji Grad, Ljubno in Luče, nr. 2/96, 23 February 1996, with effect on 3 March 1996.

The symbols were designed by Valt Jurečič of Heraldika d.o.o. and Heraldica Slovenica, who kindly provided drawings from which the images shown on this page were made.

The flag is rectangular, in proportions 2:5, vertically divided green-white-green, the middle field being square and containing the attribute from the coat of arms, the three spruces with yellow fir cones and trunks.
The pines recall forestry and woodcraft, as well as the three local communities forming the municipality.

Željko Heimer, 21 January 2002

Coat of arms of Nazarje

Coat of arms of Nazarje - Image by Željko Heimer, 21 January 2002

The coat of arms of Nazarje can be blazoned as "Per fess vert and argent, in chief a castle argent roofed gules with two roofed embatteled towers and in base three spruces of the first fructed and trunked or".
The castle shown on the coat of arms is, of course, the castle of Vrbovec.

Valt pointed out that the production of the symbols of Nazarje took some three years. Eventually, the coat of arms retained the castle named Spodnji dvor (Lower Court) that has important historical meaning for the valley of Savinja. The sponsor of the spruces in the symbols is the wood industry Glin Nazarj.

After the formation of the municipality in 1995 and until the adoption of the current coat of arms, a temporary coat of arms was prescribed in the "Temporary Statutes" Statutarni sklep o začasni statusni ureditvi Občine Nazarje, adopted on 2 February 1995 and published on 3 March 1995 in the official Slovene gazette Uradni list Republike Slovenije, 13/1995. This coat of arms is described as featuring "the castle of Vrbovec and a linden leaf".

Željko Heimer, 7 May 2006