Macelj

Macelj (pronounced [mât͡sɛʎ]) is a location in northern Croatia bordering on Slovenia, encompassing a hilly forest and several villages. There is an official border crossing in Macelj, and the end of the A2 highway. The villages are administratively divided into Gornji Macelj (Upper), population 204, and Donji Macelj (Lower), population 566.^[1]

Slovenian–Croatian border near Macelj

Macelj has the most frequently congested border crossing in Croatia on the Slovenian border. The Slovenian village opposite Macelj is Zgornje Gruškovje.

History

At the Slavonian Sabor of June 1600 in Krapina, the poor condition of the roads through Macelj was noted, making it difficult to resupply the borders of the Kingdom of Slavonia during the Long War. So the entire Varaždin County, from each of its five gates, was obliged to send one worker each to help repair the roads to the lords of the castles of Krapina and Kostel [hr], by order of Ban Ivan Drašković.^[2]: 409

At the end of World War II in 1945, the forests near Macelj were the location of the Macelj massacre that took place during the Yugoslav death march of collaborators repatriated at Bleiburg.

See also

• List of caves on Macelj