The name of the settlement was changed from Šent Peter (literally, 'Saint Peter') to Otočec (literally, 'small island') 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.[5][6][7]
Otočec Castle was first mentioned in documents in the 13th century,[9] and the walls are said to date to 1252.[10] The castle is built on a small island in the middle of the Krka River east of the main settlement of Otočec. Of the 30 small islets in the Krka River in this area, the castle is on the largest island, which was formed by cutting a southern channel around the castle in order to form a moat around it.
The islet is linked to both banks of the river by two wooden bridges (a northern bridge and a southern bridge) so that it is possible to drive from either the north side or the south side, straight through the islet, to the opposite side of the river. There is parking at the entrance of the northern bridge and on the islet itself, but there is no parking at the entrance to the southern bridge.
^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.
