Vrba is one of ten villages in the Žirovnica

Žirovnica

Žirovnica is a municipality in Slovenia. It is located in the historic Upper Carniola region, on the southern slope of the Karavanke mountain range, close to the border with Austria...

 municipality in the Upper Carniola

Upper Carniola

Upper Carniola is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jesenice, Tržič, Škofja Loka, Kamnik, and Domžale.- Historical background :...

n region of Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

. It is first mentioned in written sources from 1247 and is a typical example of a compact Alpine

Alps

The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

 village. According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 196. The Slovene national poet France Prešeren

France Prešeren

France Prešeren was a Slovene Romantic poet. He is considered the Slovene national poet. Although he was not a particularly prolific author, he inspired virtually all Slovene literature thereafter....

, who was born in the village, dedicated the first sonnet

O Vrba

O Vrba is a sonnet written in 1832 by the Slovene Romantic poet France Prešeren, who is considered the national poet of Slovenia. It is the introductory exposition of a cycle of six sonnets named the Sonnets of Unhappiness . The sonnet is dedicated to the Prešeren's home village Vrba, expressing a...

 of his Sonnets of Misfortune to the village.

Cultural significance

In January 2011, the Prešeren's house, the church of St Mark, and an ancient lime tree in the center of the village, were proclaimed cultural monuments of national importance by the Government of Slovenia

Government of Slovenia

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia is the cabinet that excersises executive authority in Slovenia pursuant to the Constitution and the laws of Slovenia. It is also the highest administrative authority in Slovenia. It comprises the Prime Minister and 15 ministers, three of them without...

. The lime tree, around which there are sixteen stones, was the meeting place of the elders of the village, who would traditionally meet under this tree to discuss village issues. Prešeren's house

Prešeren's house

Prešeren's birth house is a house in the village of Vrba in the Žirovnica municipality in Slovenia. It is the house where the Slovene poet France Prešeren was born in 1800. The Slovene theologian and archbishop Anton Vovk was also born in the same house in 1900. The house is a good example of an...

, where France Prešeren and the archbishop Anton Vovk

Anton Vovk

Archbishop Anton Vovk was born in the village of Vrba in Upper Carniola in the same house where the poet France Prešeren had been born 100 years earlier . Vovk’s father Jožef Vovk and mother Marija née Debelak died when he was young...

 were born, is a typical example of a rural residence from the first half of the 19th century and has been a museum since 1939, dedicated to the Prešeren's life and work. The village church of St Mark

St Mark's Church (Vrba)

St Mark's Church is a small church on the outskirts of the village of Vrba in Upper Carniola in Slovenia. Though it is a small and simple church, it has achieved near mythical status in Slovenia, after it was mentioned in the sonnet O Vrba by Slovene national poet France Prešeren...

 lies on the outskirts of the village behind the Prešeren's house. It has Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 foundations, but the actual structure is Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 with an interesting apse, extensive Gothic frescoes from the 15th and early 16th century on the interior walls, a renovated wooden ceiling and two gilded Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 altars. On the outside wall there are also relatively well preserved frescoes of St Christopher, the Crucifixion

Crucifixion

Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...

 and St George fighting the dragon from the 15th century.