Kranj

Sister cities

• Rivoli
• Amberg
• Pula
• Osijek
• Senta
• Kočani
• Oldham
• Herceg Novi
• Zemun
• Banja Luka

History

Archaeological finds show that Kranj was settled in prehistoric times. Discoveries include a bronze ax found in Drulovka, Hallstatt-era graves in the northern part of the town above the bank of the Kokra River, testifying to Illyrian settlement, and a burial site in the southern part of the town above the left bank of the Sava River, indicating a Celtic settlement. The Romans founded the settlement of Carnium at the confluence of the Sava and Kokra. In the 6th century, a major Germanic settlement stood at the same site, and an Ostrogothic cemetery was discovered nearby. The Gothic settlement was continued by the Lombards and existed until AD 580, when it was destroyed by invading Slavs. Traces of the old Slavic settlement (a Slavic burial site) date from the 9th and 10th centuries. As the seat of the margraves of Carniola in the 11th century, it was the most important settlement in the territory. The town itself is believed to have developed in the early 13th century; citizens of the town of Kranj appear in a document from 1221, and Kranj was officially referred to as a town in 1256. It was the seat of a court whose jurisdiction extended between that of Radovljica and Kamnik. In 1414 a decision was issued relieving the citizens of the town from paying tolls. In 1422 an ordinance required houses to be built of stone to prevent fires. A parish school was established in Kranj in 1423, and the same year the right was granted to Kranj to elect its own judge. Kranj was laid waste in 1471 in an Ottoman attack. Emperor Frederick III granted Kranj the right to collect tolls in documents from 1488 and 1493, and a 1493 document also granted the town the right to hold fairs twice a year. The town hospice records date back to the 15th century. The German authorities dismantled…

Geography

The nucleus of the city is a well-preserved medieval old town, built at the confluence of the Kokra and Sava rivers. The city is served by the Kranj railway station on the route from Ljubljana to Munich, Germany (via Jesenice and Villach, Austria) and a highway. Slovenia's national airport, Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (in Brnik) is also very close to Kranj, considerably more so than to its nominal client, Ljubljana. In Kranj, the Kokra cuts deeply into the conglomerate, forming a canyon deep. Kosorep, on the northern outskirts of Kranj, is a picturesque site along the river. Parts of the canyon can be reached by a walking trail. Below Kranj, at Drulovka, the Sava forms a deep canyon with conglomerate on both sides. Due to the dam for the Mavčiče Hydroelectric Plant, the river's flow there is very slow. Kranj has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb).

Most-observed species

• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,784
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,562
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,531
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,488
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,478
• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,180
• Mute Swan

  Cygnus olor (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  1,006
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  950

Most recent

• M 3.9 — 2023-07-29
  8 km ENE of Klana, Croatia
• M 4 — 2020-07-17
  5 km SSE of Bovec, Slovenia
• M 4.2 — 2018-08-11
  0 km NW of Gemona, Italy
• M 4 — 2015-08-29
  4 km E of Kobarid, Slovenia
• M 4.4 — 2015-01-30
  4 km W of Moggio di Sotto, Italy
• M 3.7 — 2014-05-29
  8 km W of Cerkno, Slovenia