Svibno – fenomen propadlega trga

Svibno (Germ. Scharfenberg) near Radeče is unique in many regards among Slovenian market towns of medieval origin. Situated in the middle of the Sava Hills, it stood at the highest elevation of all. Although it was founded below an important castle and at the seat of an old parish, Svibno did not retain its market functions for long. At its zenith, it had a strong cottage industry, but it did not establish itself as a trade hub. First documented as a market town in the early fifteenth century, it had already experienced a considerable economic and demographic decline by the second half of the sixteenth century. The number of homes decreased from about thirty in the first half of the fifteenth century to only three in the mid-eighteenth century. Apart from its structural shortcomings and remoteness from transport connections, the decline and ultimately the collapse of the market town was also due to its rival, the neighbouring market town of Radeče (Germ. Ratschach) on the navigable Sava River. Even though it was completely ruralized and all but completely disappeared, Svibno retained its market town title in the local environment well into the nineteenth century.