Veliki Boč
# Veliki Boč

Veliki Boč (pronounced; German: Großwalz) is a dispersed settlement in the hills north of Selnica ob Dravi in northeastern Slovenia, right on the border with Austria.

## Geography

Veliki Boč consists of a number of large, isolated farms scattered across ridges of the Kojzak Hills. It extends north to the border with Austria, south to Spodnji Boč, east to Zgornji Slemen, and west to Zgornji Boč. The soil is composed of fertile weathered gneiss, tonalite, and phyllite. Tilled fields lie on the sunny sides of the slopes. Because the terrain limits the ability to cultivate the land, animal husbandry (cattle, sheep, and bees) has traditionally been important, and especially forestry.

## Name

The name Veliki Boč literally means 'big Boč', distinguishing the settlement from neighboring Zgornji Boč (literally, 'upper Boč') and Spodnji Boč (literally, 'lower Boč'). The name Boč may be geographical in origin, referring to a rounded hill. These various villages named Boč were attested in written sources in 1265–67 as Waltz (and as Walsnich in 1352).

## History

On April 25, 1929, the Yugoslav police executed Communist Party secretary Đuro Đaković (1886–1929) and Nikola Hećimović (1900–1929), secretary of International Red Aid, in the Šele Ravine (Slovene: Šelova graba) in the hamlet of Šelovo in the northern part of the village.

