Podbrdo is an urbanized village in the narrow bottom of the upper Baška Grapa, next to the Jesenice - Nova Gorica railway line and the road from Bohinjska Bistrica or Železniki via Petrovi Brdo to Most na Soča in the municipality of Tolmin. It has 759 inhabitants. It lies at the confluence of the stream Batava and Mačji potok and Mlečni potok with Bača river, located below Petrovo Brdo, once a very important pass between Posočje and Posavije. The Bača woolen factory was very important in Podbrdo, we also have an elementary school, an bar and several shops. It is a starting point for visiting the natural heritage in the wider area: the gorges and waterfalls of Mačji potok (Kocenpoh, Ruscev slap na Batava, Jerempoh), geomorphological phenomena and habitats of endemic, rare and protected plants on Črna prst (1844 m) and Porezen (1630 m).
Among the cultural and historical monuments, the most important one is the baroque parish church of St. Nicholas, several houses from the 19th century, monument to victims of the construction of the Bohinj tunnel and monument of the Second World War.
The village was established in the 16th century in the area of the Tyrolean colonization (Richtaria Nemški Rut) in the 13th century as the hamlet of village Bača, mentioned in the urban register from 1377 under the name Binchinuel.
The Church of St. Nicholas is mentioned in 1588, since 1848 it has been the seat of the parish. From 1767, there was a customs house and an office for collecting the wine tax (tax). The road connection with Tolmin has existed since 1892, previously only a freight route led through Podbrda through the Bača valley and over Vrh Bače (1281 m) to Bohinj; the so-called Bohinj rail line was built in 1906.
From 1918 to 1943, Podbrdo was Italian, as a town next to the border with a large army and police force, it was under great pressure of Italianization. The population participated in various forms of resistance. As in most of the settlements of the Tyrolean colonization, mainly German names are prevalent here, and the population settled down in the 18th century.
Podbrdo got its current appearance with the construction of the Woolen Factory Bača after World War II. world war, in which the majority of the population was employed. The closure of the factory in 2002 hit the place very hard. Today, most people travel to work to Bohinjska Bistrica, Jesenice, Tolmin or even in the distant Cerkno. (Source: Primary School Podbrdo).
