The treasure house of millennia

The city by the Drava is a natural meeting point of vineyard-covered hills and the expansive open fields of north-eastern Slovenia. People have lived here without interruption since Roman times. The town charter of 1376 places Ptuj among the oldest towns or cities in the wider region. The protected medieval city centre maintains its stories of the past in churches and monasteries, in vaulted wine cellars and in castle halls. The mystical quality of the city is maintained by the kurent costumed figures, who drive away everything bad.

THOUSANDS OF INSPIRATIONS

Ptuj, thousands of special qualities accumulated in thousands of lives. Walk through its streets with open eyes.

The Minorite Monastery – the first entirely Gothic building in Slovenia, built at the beginning of the 13th century.

The Florian Monument – a monument erected in 1745 in Mestni Trg was a supplication from the burghers to St. Florian for his protection from the frequent fires.

The Orpheus Monument – a Roman gravestone of Pohorje marble, almost 5 metres high, was erected in the 2nd century. In the Middle Ages it was used as stocks.

The City Tower – the tower with the unusual clock, first mentioned in 1376, is among the oldest open-air lapidariums. In the 19th century, monuments from Antiquity of Ptuj and its surroundings were built into it.  

Church of St. George – the finest and richest architectural monument in Ptuj, dating from the 12th century, has Renaissance and Baroque gravestones from the former cemetery on its exterior walls.

Dominican Monastery – with a museum and family vault of the lords of Ptuj; the monastery also houses the Ptuj Historical Archives.

Ptuj Castle – on the castle hill, which was already inhabited in Antiquity, stands the oldest preserved tower on the chivalric circuit; the castle was home to the family of the lords of Ptuj, which built a two-storey building. Today the castle houses the Regional Museum.

HERITAGE COLLECTIONS

Ptuj offers thousands of images of cultural heritage.These are in the care of the Ptuj – Ormož Regional Museum. Come and see:

Ptuj Castle – with its collections of feudal residential life, weapons, musical instruments, traditional carnival masks, paintings on glass, an ethnological collection and castle gallery;

the Dominican Monastery – with its numismatic collection lapidarium and reconstruction of  a Mithraeum, and collection of small archaeological items;

the Mihelič Gallery – the tower by the Drava River houses the graphic room of painter France Mihelič. The city also features an Art Salon and the Stari Zapori exhibition centre.

GREEN: IMPORTANT EUROPEAN AREAS

Important European areas of nature preservation are included in the Natura 2000 network. This network includes the lake of Ptujsko Jezero, a wintering ground for thousands of aquatic birds, and two fishponds in the village of Podvinci. The ponds, which are at least 200 years old, are a habitat for animals and plants that have almost disappeared elsewhere. The path around the ponds offers a special experience of protected nature.

CLOCK WITHOUT TIME FOR THE LORD OF THE CASTLE

The large clock on the city tower has a dial only on three sides. On the northern side, which looks towards the castle, there is no dial. Stories of the past relate that the burghers took revenge in this way against the miserly count, who did not wish to contribute money for the clock. The story no doubt contains a grain of truth, since the city and the lord of the castle were frequently at each other’s throats regarding maintenance of the defensive towers and the staircase from the city to the castle.

TIC Ptuj
Slovenski trg 5, Ptuj
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www.ptuj.info

Ptuj – Maribor 25 km Ptuj – Celje 61 km Ptuj – Ljubljana 132 km