| Official Name: | Spodnje Gorje |
| Pushpin Map: | Slovenia |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Slovenia |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Slovenia |
| Subdivision Type1: | Traditional Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Upper Carniola |
| Subdivision Type2: | Statistical region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Upper Carniola |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Gorje |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 938 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Religions |
| Coordinates: | 46.3809°N 14.0736°W |
| Elevation M: | 562.2 |
| Footnotes: | [1] |
Spodnje Gorje (pronounced as /sl/) is the largest settlement in the Municipality of Gorje in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. It includes the hamlets of Zgornji Graben, Furtuna, and Poljane on the Mežakla Plateau.[2]
The name Spodnje Gorje literally means 'lower Gorje', distinguishing the settlement from neighboring Zgornje Gorje (literally, 'upper Gorje'). The two settlements were attested in Latin in 1050–65 as in loco qui dicitur Summitas campi and in loco qui dicitur z Obinentigemo uelde (both 'in the place called top of the field'). The name Gorje is derived from the plural demonym *Gorjane 'mountain residents', derived from the common noun gora 'mountain'.[3]
Early settlement of the area is attested by several graves from the 11th century behind the house at the Turk farm. During the Second World War, the Partisans established a base in the hamlet of Poljane in the summer of 1941.[2]
Spodnje Gorje is the site of four known mass graves in Slovenia of civilians and Nazi German soldiers and nurses killed after the conclusion of the Second World War by the Red Army and the Yugoslav Communist-led National Liberation Army. Three of the graves are in the woods northwest of the settlement. The Meadow 1 and 2 mass graves (sl|Grobišče Na trati 1, 2) contain the remains of two truckloads of Slovene civilians of Italian heritage from Begunje na Gorenjskem transported to the site and murdered on July 24, 1945. They were buried at three sites. The first site is between the narrow dirt road to the Jožnik Clearing (Slovenian: Jožnikov rovt) and the edge of the woods. The second site is north of the main gravel road, at the north corner of a wooden shed in a fenced meadow. The third location has not been identified.[4] [5] The Meadow Shaft 1 Mass Grave (Slovenian: Grobišče Brezno na trati 1), also known as the Beton Cave Mass Grave (Slovenian: Grobišče Betonova jama), lies a few meters below the main gravel road and is covered with trash. It is a 15m (49feet) shaft containing the remains of three prisoners of war captured from the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany.[6] The Gravel Pit Mass Grave (Slovenian: Grobišče v peskokopu), also known as the Špan Gravel Pit Mass Grave (Slovenian: Grobišče Španov peskokop), lies north of the settlement to the right of the road to Kočna and contains the remains about 20 German nurses murdered after the war.[7]
The church in the village is dedicated to Saint Oswald. It dates from 1629. There is a painting of Saint Oswald on the outside wall of the church, and a painting by Janez Potočnik (1749–1834) inside the church.[2]
Notable people from Spodnje Gorje include: