Ptuj - just a smile away

Nastja:The town is dominated by the castle, standing proudly on the hill above Ptuj. Due to the strategic position at the bank of Drava river the castle hill was occupied since the early days of Ptuj and it played an important role over the centuries. The look of the building we can see now dates back to the 18th century. There’s a permanent exhibition of kurenti costumes and photographs of past parades in the regional museum housed in the Ptuj Castle. Ptuj Museum is one of the best in Slovenia: among the varied displays are an interactive display of traditional musical instruments, a display of glass paintings (a traditional craft particular to this region) and, in the Representatives’ Hall, a stunning display of seventeenth century paintings of Turkish and European military men, elegant ladies in beautiful gowns and elaborate head-dresses, and people from far flung countries in their national dress. The highlight is a spectacular painting of Siegmund Herberstein, the seventeenth century owner of Ptuj Castle; in it he wears an extravagantly decorated silk coat given to him by Suleyman the Magnificent. Ptuj Castle is also home to the museum that hosts the biggest collection of music instruments in whole Slovenia. But that’s not the only reason why it’s worth climbing up the steep hill to the castle. The view from up there is the best one you can get in Ptuj, with the whole town, the nearby Ptujsko Jezero and the surrounding idyllic countryside at its best.

Nastja:Memories and the spirit of the past are preserved in the bottles kept in the Ptuj wine cellar, representing an admirable and the most important collection of archival wines in this part of Europe, among them there is a true wine memorial – the oldest archival wine in Slovenia – Zlata trta (Golden Vine) from 1917. However, in Ptuj Cellar the focus is not only on the past. By upgrading the knowledge and experience and by respecting the noble tradition of wine cultivation, the tale is successfully unfolding.

Nastja:The Dominican Monastery at Ptuj, established in the 13th century by the Dominican Order, is now the premises of the newly-arranged collections of the Ptuj – Ormož Regional Museum, the Historical Archives Ptuj, and housing. The Dominican monastery was established in 1230 by Methildis, the widow of Friedrich III of Ptuj. She donated some land to the Dominican Order, where lavish buildings stood in the times of ancient Poetovio, where Prince Pribina’s mansion stood in the 9th century, and where buildings owned by the Lords of Ptuj stood in the 13th century. The Dominican friars built a church with a presbytery shaped like a long choir, as well as the monastery’s living quarters. The cloister got its current form in the beginning of the 15th century, however mural paintings from the 14th century and mullioned windows from the 13th century were preserved on the eastern wall. The Dominican complex has preserved its medieval architecture, with baroque features added at the end of the 17th and beginning of 18th centuries. The friars lived in the monastery until its dissolution in 1785, when the military moved in. In 1928, museum collections were exhibited on the ground floor, and restoration started in 2011. The Renovated parts of the monastery serve as a venue for cultural events and are open to visitors.