Grduni is a hamlet on the northern, Slovenian, side of the river Kolpa, south of the main road from Vinica to Preloka, between the hamlets of Dejani and Jakovini. This hamlet is part of the administrative region (gemeinde) of Preloka, which included the hamlets of Grduni, Kroci, Jakovini, and Brdo (the old name for the village of Preloka).
Grduni falls within the region of Slovenia known as Bela krajina (White Carniola in English, Weisskrain in German), thus named to distinguish it from the remainder of the historical Austrian Duchy of Carniola (Herzogthum Krain) to the north. Prior to inclusion into the duchy, this area was under the control of the Kingdom of Croatia, which had already been absorbed into the Kingdom of Hungary. Counts from Carinthia and Carniola to the north, setting their sights southward to the sparsely populated primeval forests of Bela krajina, conducted successful military campaigns in the 12th century. Based on church records and Urbariae, this hamlet was always considered part of Preloka.
The first mention we have found of the place Grduni is in the maps of the Jospehian Cadastre of ca.1763 and recorded as Gerdani.
The Francisian Cadastre of 1823 shows 9 households, and the map below show the locations of the Fuziki and Jarčani houses as black boxes.
The chapel Mother Mary of the Rosary was built in 1911 to commemorate a great fire that almost completely burned down the village. The chapel was built in a part of the hamlet known as Kotarec.
Continue on to explore the history of the People of Grduni.