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Nauportus, Oberlaibach …

Vrhnika has a long and colorful history. Nauportus, Oberlaibah, Vernich, Wurcnik, Zgornja (Upper) Ljubljana... and finally Vrh-nika. Would you like to know the origin of these names?
Valvasor's Vrhnika
The Roman wall (Claustra Alpium Iluliarum)
The Roman wall (Claustra Alpium Iluliarum)
The Roman soldier
The Roman soldier
Oberlaibach (1910)
Oberlaibach (1910)
The view toward St. Lenart's (1930)
The view toward St. Lenart's (1930)

The Roman era

According to Strabo (Greek writer), in the middle of the 2nd century BC there was a settlement called Nauportus (Latin; 'river port for trading ships’) in the wider area of Vrhnika. The settlement was under the rule of the Celtic tribe Taurisci and served as a stop on the freight route Aquileia-Emona. Records indicate that during the 1st century BC a Roman part of the settlement emerged in the immediate neighborhood.

The settlement experienced the largest boom during the conquests of Emperor Augustus, who wished to connect karstic and apline landscapes and the Danube with Italy both in military and economic sense. He ordered construction of a road from Aquileia across Hrušica to Vrhnika and the Roman Emona; the road was built by his military departments. Stretch of the road between the Ljubljana Basin and Karst was of the utmost importance for the Roman state. Soon Nauportus has developed into an important port and warehouse with all the associated infrastructure.

A great defensive wall called Claustra Alpium Iuliarum was the main line of defense for the area and it was built in the 3rd century AD. People also call it 'the Giants' wall' ('Ajdovski zid'). Even today we can still trace partially preserved wall - in Vrhnika it was over 10 km long, 1 m wide, and 2 to 3 m high. It had 62 quadrilateral defense towers. Remains of the Roman wall can be seen below the Ljubljana's peak, at Zaplana and at Pokojišče. At the cemetery you can observe a preserved defense tower and in the hamlet of Hill in Vrhnika remains of a 'kastel' (military base). Elsewhere, all that remained are low remnants that are overgrown by mighty spruces.

The disintegrated Roman Empire could not stand the pressure of many tribes passing through in the era of migration of peoples and so in the middle of the 5th century AD the Huns destroyed the city.

Middle ages

Early and Mid Modern Period

Nowadays