Črnomelj
While the entire history of Črnomelj is over 3000 years long, it was first mentioned in writing in 1228. Today Črnomelj is the largest town and the largest municipality in Bela krajina. In WW2, Črnomelj became the center of liberated territory, the center of a free Slovenia, in which the foundations of the Slovenian state were laid.
From the late Bronze Age to the Iron Age Črnomelj continued to grow until the Roman conquests. The first settlement was most likely destroyed by the Augustus Octavian and later Tiberius. In late antiquity, it was an important settlement on this part of the Balkan Peninsula. The first church was built in the 4th century. The settlement was destroyed in the late 6th and the beginning of the 7th century. It was only between the 9th and 11th centuries that a new settlement was created. In 1408 was the first time Črnomelj was mentioned as a city. In the 19th century Črnomelj began to develop as a regional center, it gained a court and administrative offices. In 1868 a reading room was opened, 1874 a fire department opened. In 1914 the railroad was completed.
Where to discover
Bela krajina lies in southeastern Slovenia. It is centrally located between Ljubljana – Slovenia’s capital, Zagreb – Croatia’s capitol, and Rijeka, Croatia’s port city in the Adriatic. From each of these locations, Bela krajina is about 100 km away. No highway leads directly to Črnomelj. When traveling in Slovenia, you can take the exit to Črnomelj in Ivančna Gorica or you can drive to Novo mesto and there take the road to either Črnomelj, Metlika or Semič. If you are traveling from Croatia, choose the Bosiljevo I exit and drive towards Slovenia, through the Vinica border crossing. You can also drive to Karlovec and there turn towards Slovenia, where you will enter the country in Metlika.
