Velenje (; ) is Slovenia's sixth-largest city, and the seat of the Municipality of Velenje. The city is located in northeastern Slovenia, among the rolling green hills of the Šalek Valley, with the Kamnik–Savinja Alps to the west and the Pohorje Mountains to the east. Name Velenje was first attested in written sources in 1264 as Weln (and as Welan in 1270, and Belen and Welen in 1296). The name derives from *Velen′e selo 'Velenъ's village'. A less likely hypothesis derives the name from the Slovene common noun velen(je) 'pasture for livestock'. The name of the town was changed to Titovo Velenje (literally, 'Tito's Velenje') in 1981 in honor of the Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito. The name Velenje was restored in 1990, just before the declaration of Slovenian independence in 1991. In the past, the German name of the settlement was Wöllan. History Mass grave The Koželj Mass Grave () from the period immediately after World War II, is located in the Goll Woods () below Big Koželj Hill () beside a tributary of Trubušnica Creek. It contains the remains of a truckload of Slovene civilian prisoners, including many Velenje natives, that were transported from the prisons in Celje and shot on June 15, 1945. The site is marked by an official inventory sign and a small concrete plaque. Modern history The 1889 Old Velenje (), the old part of today's city, was a small market town with 364 citizens, located downtown at the foot of Velenje Castle. The lignite mining industry in the area contributed to the expansion of the town before World War II. After the war, Velenje rapidly advanced and developed into a modern city. The city was planned and built in the 1950s, in the time of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia. The manufacturer of home appliances, Gorenje, moved its headquarters to the city from the nearby settlement of Gorenje. The central Tito Square officially opened on September 20, 1959, and features the tallest statue of Tito in the world (about ). It was designed by Antun Augustinčič and Vladimir Herljević. The square was once used as a meeting place of Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev, as well as Edward Gierek and Nicolae Ceaușescu. Geography Velenje is located in northeast Slovenia, some 85 km from the capital Ljubljana, and the country's second- and third-largest cities Maribor and Celje, are 75 km and 25 km away,