Kranjska Gora

Kranjska Gora is a town in northwestern Slovenia, on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region, close to the Austrian and Italian borders. It is the seat of the Municipality of Kranjska Gora.NameKranjska Gora was first mentioned in written sources in 1326 as Chrainow . The Slovene name Kranjska Gora is a reworking of the German name, influenced by German Krainberg 'Karawanks'. The settlement was also called Borovska vas in Slovene in the past.HistoryKranjska Gora is believed to have been settled in the 11th century by Slovenes from Carantania. It was a fief of the Counts of Ortenburg in the 12th century. A trade route to Tarvisio already led through the town in the 14th century. In 1431 the Counts of Celje built a castle at Villa Bassa (now part of Tarvisio), which belonged to the town until 1848. Kranjska Gora came under Ottoman attack in 1476. A railroad connection was built to Kranjska Gora in 1870.During the First World War, in 1916, Russian prisoners of war built a wooden chapel above the settlement commemorating their comrades killed in an avalanche while building a road over the Vršič Pass. There is a small cemetery nearby. Commemorations take place at the chapel every year.