Lovrenc na Pohorju (; or Sankt Lorenzen ob Marburg; locally Šentloranc) is a settlement in northeastern Slovenia. It lies in the Pohorje Hills to the west of Maribor. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. It is now included in the Drava Statistical Region.Lovrenc na Pohorju municipal site It is the seat of the Municipality of Lovrenc na Pohorju.

Name The name of the settlement was changed from Sveti Lovrenc na Pohorju (literally, 'Saint Lawrence on Pohorje') to Lovrenc na Pohorju (literally, 'Lawrence on Pohorje') in 1952. 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.

Churches The parish church from which the settlement gets its name is dedicated to Saint Lawrence and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor. It was first mentioned in written documents dating to the 12th century. It was rebuilt in 1407 and extensively remodeled in the 18th century.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage reference number ešd 3119 Two other churches in the settlement are dedicated to Saint Radegund and to the Holy Cross. Both date to the 17th century.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage reference number ešd 3121 & 3122

A community of Jehovah's Witnesses has also been living in Lovrenc na Pohorju since at least the 1970s and built a Kingdom Hall around 2000.

References

External links

Lovrenc na Pohorju on Geopedia Lovrenc na Pohorju municipal site