Valterski Vrh stands next to Golec Hill (674 meters or 2,211 feet) on a ridge between the valleys of Sovpat (or Sopot) Creek to the west and Hill Creek (Hribovska grapa) to the east. The core of the settlement, with the church, is known as V hribih 'in the hills'. Small farms belonging to the village lie on the slope and in the valley of Sovpat Creek. Polhovec Hill (948 meters or 3,110 feet) rises to the east, and unpaved roads connect the village to Log nad Škofjo Loko and Staniše.[2]
Name
Valterski Vrh is also known as Sveta Filip in Jakob v Hribih 'Saints Phillip and James in the Hills', after the patrons of the village church.[3][4] The name of the village was recorded as Chribu around 1490, Walterskivrch in 1500,[5]Balterskhiwurch in 1560,[3] and Waltersskhiuorch in 1584.[4] In the local dialect, the name has been reworked (via folk etymology) into Bajtarski Vrh (literally, 'tenant farmer's peak').[6] The name Valterski Vrh is equivalent to the metathesized name Lavtarski Vrh, a village 11.5 kilometers (7.1 mi) to the north-northeast.[6][7]
History
During the Second World War, there was a Partisan base at Polhovec Hill in the summer of 1941. Engagements took place between the Partisans and German forces near the village in December 1941. On 29 December 1941, German forces shot the owner and farmhand at the Jakobec (a.k.a. Jekopec) farm for storing munitions for the Partisans, and then burned the farm the following day.[2][8][9]
