Žalec

Žalec
Town
From top, left to right: St. Nicholas' Church, Former Presbytery, Zotel Forge, Railway Station, Defense Tower, Pikl House
Flag Coat of arms
Žalec Location in Slovenia
Coordinates: 46°15′3.59″N 15°9′50.18″E / 46.2509972°N 15.1639389°E / 46.2509972; 15.1639389
Country	Slovenia
Traditional region	Styria
Statistical region	Savinja
Municipality	Žalec
Area
• Total	3.0 km² (1.2 sq mi)
Elevation	255.3 m (837.6 ft)
Population (2013)
• Total	4,878
Vehicle registration	CE
^[1]

Žalec (pronounced [ˈʒaːləts] ^ⓘ; German: Sachsenfeld^[2]) is a town in central Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Žalec. It lies in the valley of the lower course of the Savinja River west of Celje. The primary economic activity of the region is growing hops, which is reflected by the city's coat-of-arms. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. The municipality is now included in the Savinja Statistical Region.^[3]

Harvesting hops at the end of August in Žalec

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Name

Žalec was attested in written sources as Saxenburc and Sachsenwelde in 1182 (and as Saschenvelde in 1232 and Sachsenfelde in 1256). The medieval German names are based on folk etymology from the Slovene name, probably the genitive of the plural form *Žalci. This in turn was based on the personal name *Zal and would mean 'descendants of Žal'.^[4] In modern German the settlement was known as Sachsenfeld.^[2]^[5]

Church

The parish church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Nicholas and belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje. It was built between 1903 and 1906 on the site of a 16th-century church. The 16th-century building had a walled enclosure to protect the locals against Ottoman raids. A round tower from this enclosure still stands next to the church.^[6]

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1948	1,279	—
1953	1,534	+19.9%
1961	1,874	+22.2%
1971	2,762	+47.4%
1981	4,561	+65.1%
1991	5,381	+18.0%
2002	4,919	−8.6%
2011	4,943	+0.5%
2021	4,983	+0.8%
Population size may be affected by changes in administrative divisions.

References

^ Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia.
^ ^a ^b Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru, vol. 4: Štajersko. 1904. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 44.
^ Žalec municipal site.
^ Snoj, Marko. 2009. Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen. Ljubljana: Modrijan and Založba ZRC, p. 485.
^ Mueller, Edwin. 1961. Handbook of Austria and Lombardy-Venetia Cancellations on the Postage Stamp Issues 1850-1864.
^ Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage reference numbers ešd 3537 & 10470.