Vrhek
Vrhek | |
|---|---|
  Vrhek Location in Slovenia | |
| Coordinates: 45°58′4.7″N 15°11′48.37″E / 45.967972°N 15.1967694°E | |
| Country |  Slovenia |
| Traditional region | Lower Carniola |
| Statistical region | Lower Sava |
| Municipality | Sevnica |
| Area | |
• Total | 2.69 km2 (1.04 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 241.9 m (794 ft) |
| Population (2012) | |
• Total | 110 |
| • Density | 41/km2 (110/sq mi) |
| [1] | |
Vrhek (pronounced [ˈʋəɾxɛk]) is a settlement in the Municipality of Sevnica in east-central Slovenia. It lies in the hills above the left bank of the Mirna River, southeast of Krmelj. The area is part of the historical region of Lower Carniola. The municipality is now included in the Lower Sava Statistical Region. Administratively, Vrhek belongs to the local community (krajevna skupnost) of Tržišče.[2][3]
Natural heritage
[edit]The wooded hill above Vrhek is home to one of Slovenia's few native stands of the yellow azalea (Rhododendron luteum), known locally as rumeni sleč or pontska azaleja. According to the Volčji Potok Arboretum, the shrub grows wild in Slovenia at only three sites: Boštanj, Vrhek, and Brusnice near Novo Mesto.[4] The species was first identified in Slovenia only in 1954, in the nearby Gorjanci Hills, and it has been legally protected as an endangered plant since 1976.[4]
The Vrhek site was included in the European Natura 2000 ecological network in 2004 because of its azalea population, a designation locally credited with raising awareness of the site and spurring its conservation.[5] In November 2022, the Vrhek site received Slovenia's first national Natura 2000 award, in the cooperation category, in recognition of eighteen years of joint work by the Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Nature Conservation, local residents, and the Tržišče Tourist Society; the award was accepted by Miro Povše of the Tržišče Tourist Society and Tanja Košar Starič of the institute's Celje regional unit.[5] The Tržišče Tourist Society has held an annual hike—called the "Azaleja"—from Tržišče up to the azalea site at Vrhek every year since 2006, usually on a Saturday in early May. In 2006, local volunteers, supported by the Slovenian Forest Service, cleared the site's overgrown clearing to help restore its flowering.[6]
Economy
[edit]Vrhek is a small farming settlement. Its beekeeping operation, Čebelarstvo Kolenc, won a silver medal for its forest honey at the 55th AGRA International Agricultural Fair in Gornja Radgona in 2017.[7]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Vrhek, Sevnica". Place Names. Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- ↑ "Krajevna skupnost Tržišče". Občina Sevnica (in Slovenian).
- ↑ "Statut Občine Sevnica". Uradni list Republike Slovenije (in Slovenian).
- 1 2 "Rumeni sleč ali pontska azaleja". Arboretum Volčji Potok (in Slovenian).
- 1 2 "Slovenska nagrada Natura 2000 za sodelovanje za upravljanje nahajališča rumenega sleča na Vrhku". LIFE-IP NATURA.SI, Ministrstvo za naravne vire in prostor (in Slovenian).
- ↑ "Tradicionalni pohod iz Tržišča na Vrhek". Posavski obzornik (in Slovenian).
- ↑ "Jurečičev kostanjev med najboljšimi". Dolenjski list (in Slovenian). 2017-08-17.
External links
[edit]
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