Močle () is a village in the Municipality of Šmarje pri Jelšah in eastern Slovenia. It lies in the hills west of Šmarje. The area is part of the historical Styria region. The municipality is now included in the Savinja Statistical Region.Šmarje pri Jelšah municipal site It is a clustered village on the south side of a gentle slope. It includes the hamlets of Erpoge and Sveti Lovrenc.Savnik, Roman, ed. 1976. Krajevni leksikon Slovenije, vol. 3. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, pp. 376–377.
Name The name of the settlement was changed from Sveti Lovrenc pri Šmarju (literally, 'Saint Lawrence near Šmarje') to Močle in 1955. The name was changed on the basis of the 1948 Law on Names of Settlements and Designations of Squares, Streets, and Buildings as part of efforts by Slovenia's postwar communist government to remove religious elements from toponyms.Spremembe naselij 1948–95. 1996. Database. Ljubljana: Geografski inštitut ZRC SAZU, DZS.Premk, F. 2004. Slovenska versko-krščanska terminologija v zemljepisnih imenih in spremembe za čas 1921–1967/68. Besedoslovne lastnosti slovenskega jezika: slovenska zemljepisna imena. Ljubljana: Slavistično društvo Slovenije, pp. 113–132.Urbanc, Mimi, & Matej Gabrovec. 2005. Krajevna imena: poligon za dokazovanje moči in odraz lokalne identitete. Geografski vestnik 77(2): 25–43. The name Močle and names like it (e.g., Močile, Močilno) are derived from the Slovene common noun močilo, močila 'pond, swamp, wet area'. Before Močle became the name of the entire settlement, the name used to refer to one of the hamlets in the settlement.
Church The local church is dedicated to Saint Lawrence and belongs to the Parish of Šmarje pri Jelšah. It dates to the late 16th century with a sacristy added in the 18th century.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage reference number ešd 3410 The entire church was remodeled in 1939 and in 1959.
There is also a vaulted wayside shrine in Močle. It is believed to date from the 18th century.
References
External links Močle on Geopedia