Plavje

Plavje
Plavje
	Koper
Area
• Total	2.99 km2 (1.15 sq mi)
Elevation	84.7 m (277.9 ft)
Population (2002)
• Total	435

Plavje (pronounced

Littoral region of Slovenia. It is located on the northernmost edge of the Istrian peninsula, on the border with Italy, on a small hill overlooking the Gulf of Trieste.^[2]

It has a small border crossing with Italy, connecting it with the nearby village of Belpoggio in Noghere (Slovene: Beloglav), south of Trieste, which used to be a hamlet of Plavje (until 1954). Since Slovenia's accession to the European Union and the Schengen area, customs and immigration checks have been abolished at the Italian-Slovenian border.

Geography and climate

Plavje is located on a small slope overlooking the

Koper Bay. It is located on the border with Italy, which runs on the northern edge of the village. It has good road connections to Koper and Trieste

because it is located above the highway connecting the two cities. It enjoys a mild climate, save for the strong bora wind that frequently blows in the winter.

History

During most of its history, Plavje was part of the municipality of

Margravate of Istria within the Austrian Littoral

.

According to the last Austrian census of 1910/1911, the village had 771 inhabitants, of which 78.3% were

Kingdom of Italy

.

In 1907, a

Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The village was liberated by the Yugoslav People's Army on May 1, 1945. In early June 1945, the Yugoslav Army retreated east of the Morgan Line

, and Plavje was occupied by British and American troops. The village was thus placed on the very border between Yugoslav and Anglo-American occupation zones, and became a centre of smuggling.

Between 1947 and 1954, Plavje was part of Zone A of the Free Territory of Trieste. It remained under Anglo-American occupation until 1954, when it was ceded to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, thus cutting off its connections with the settlements of Muggia, Dolina and Trieste, which were left in Italy. Since then, it has been gravitating towards Koper. A local border crossing with Italy was opened northwest of village in 1955.

In 1991, it became part of independent Slovenia. During the Ten-Day War of 1991, some intensive fighting took place close to the village, at the international border crossing between Rabuiese, Italy and Spodnje Škofije, Slovenia.

Since 1991, it has mostly become a bedroom community of Koper, with most locals daily commuting to the town for work.

Economy

Plavje is an important center of local olive oil production. It also produces some quality wines, especially Refosco and Malvasia. Nevertheless, agriculture is a part-time activity because most of the people commute to Koper for work.

Culture and traditions

The great majority of the population of the village are Slovenes, and they speak the Rižana subdialect of the Istrian dialect.

The local church is dedicated to Saint Lucy and is now a chapel of ease of the Parish of Škofije, established in 1960.^[4]

References

External links

Plavje on Geopedia

[1] Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia

[2] Koper municipal site

[3] ttp://www.sistory.si/publikacije/prenos/?urn=SISTORY:ID:836 ^{[bare URL PDF]}

[4] Roman Catholic Diocese of Koper List of Churches May 2008 Archived 2009-03-06 at the Wayback Machine

[1]

[2]

[4]