Zaka Valley
TheZaka Valley(Slovene:dolina Zaka) is a valley in theJulian Alpsin northwesternSlovenia.
Geography
[edit]The Zaka Valley lies at the west end ofLake Bled.[1][2]The railway betweenJeseniceandGoriziaruns above it. Locally, a distinction is made between the Little Zaka Valley (Mala Zaka), originally at the extreme southeast part of the lake, east of Little Osojnica Hill (Mala Osojnica,691 meters or 2,267 feet) where Jezernica Creek empties into the lake in the hamlet of Mlino, and the Big Zaka Valley (Velika Zaka), which lies at the westernmost part of the lake between Little Osojnica Hill and Kuhovnica Hill (714 meters or 2,343 feet), through which Zaka Creek flows,[3]emptying into Zaka Bay.[4][5]The nameMala Zakais now applied to the area around the rowing club at the extreme northwest part of the lake.[5]Swimming areas are also located in the bays below the Big Zaka Valley[6]and Little Zaka Valley.[7]
Name
[edit]The nameZakawas first recorded in 1185 asZake.[8]France Bezlajsuggested that the nameZakawas a contraction of *zějaka'opening between hills'.[8]However, Dušan Čop has proposed that the nameZakais a fused prepositional phrase derived fromza Ak-'behind Ak'. The nameAkrefers to two parcels of land, Upper and Lower Ak (Zgornji Ak,Spodnji Ak), and the Ak Mansion (Slovene:Vila Ak,later renamedPartizanka). Popular etymology associated the mansion's name with the initials of its owner, Anton Kokalj (1851–1938). However, the nameAkis believed to be of Celtic origin (although there are also parallels of toponyms withAk-from GermanHacken'hook').[5]
History
[edit]Archaeological finds from theUrnfield cultureand Roman coins have been found in the Zaka Valley,[1]and there is a prehistoric Celtic burial site between Upper and Lower Ak.[5]During the Second World War, members of the Carinthian People's League (German:Kärntner Volksbund) renovated two ski jumps in the Zaka Valley.[9]
References
[edit]- ^abKnific, Timotej. 1984. "Arheološki zemljevid Blejskega kota v zgodnjem srednjem veku."Kronika32(2/3): 99–110, p. 102.
- ^Zaka Valley on Geopedia
- ^Andrič, Maja. "A Multi-Proxy Late-Glacial Palaeoenvironmental Record from Lake Bled, Slovenia." 2009. In: Krisztina Biczkó et al. (eds.),Palaeolimnological Proxies as Tools of Environmental Reconstruction in Fresh Water,pp. 121–141. Berlin: Springer, p. 124.
- ^Ogorelec, Bojan et al. 2006. "Recent Sediment of Lake Bled (NW Slovenia): Sedimentological and Geochemical Properties." In: Brian Kronvang et al. (eds.),The Interactions between Sediments and Water,pp. 141–169. Berlin: Springer, p. 143.
- ^abcdČop, Dušan. 1998. "Ime Zaka in njegov izvor."Jezik in slovstvo43(4): 173–174.
- ^Profil kopalne vode Kopalno območje Velika Zaka(Big Zaka Swimming Area). Ljubljana: Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning.(in Slovene)
- ^Profil kopalne vode Kopalno območje Mala Zaka(Little Zaka Swimming Area). Ljubljana: Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning.(in Slovene)
- ^abBezlaj, France. 1977. "O imenih Sneberje, Sostro in drugo."Jezik in slovstvo22(8): 225–227, p. 225.
- ^"Iz domovine." 1941.Karawanken-Bote1(35): 4.