Gače


Gače is a remote abandoned settlement in the Municipality of Semič in southern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region. Its territory is now part of the village of Komarna Vas and it is registered as a cultural heritage site.

Name

The origin of the name Gače is uncertain. Petschauer suggests that the name is derived from Slovene kača 'snake'. However, Bezlaj derives this and similar names from Slovene gat 'weir, dike, barrier', generally referring to a barrier that water spills over. In the past the German name was Gatschen.

History

Gače was a Gottschee German village. The settlement was not mentioned in the land registries of 1574 or 1770, but it does appear in the Črmošnjice land registry of 1754. The settlement had four houses with 18 residents in 1880, and reached its peak population in 1890. After this, the population declined to seven in 1900, and only one in 1910. Gače was abandoned before the First World War. The ruins of the village mayor's house were partially restored in 1995. Gače has been used for skiing since before the Second World War, and the Gače ski center now operates at Gače.

Cultural heritage

Two monuments in Gače are registered as cultural heritage: