The name Hrovača is derived from the word Hrvat 'Croat'. Like similar names (e.g., Hrvatini and Hrobači, a hamlet of Dobravlje), it originally referred to medieval Croatian resettlement from the south connected with Ottoman occupation of the central Balkans.[4] In the past the German name was Krobatsch.[2]
Mass grave
Hrovača is the site of a mass grave associated with the Second World War. The Bašelj Shaft 2 Mass Grave (Slovene: Grobišče Brezno na Bašlju 2) is located in the woods northeast of Hrovača, about 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) south of Podtabor, on the north slope of Chicken Hill (Kurji grič). Spelunkers have reported human remains at the site.[5]
Church
The local church, built next to the cemetery on the southern outskirts of the settlement, is dedicated to the Holy Trinity (Slovene: sveta Trojica) and belongs to the parish of Ribnica. It was built in 1909 on the site of a 16th-century church originally dedicated to Saint James.[6]
^Snoj, Marko (2009). Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen. Ljubljana: Modrijan. pp. 12, 165.
^Ferenc, Mitja (December 2009). "Grobišče Brezno na Bašlju 2". Geopedia (in Slovenian). Ljubljana: Služba za vojna grobišča, Ministrstvo za delo, družino in socialne zadeve. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
