Slovenia Travel: Ptuj– a Perfect Day Trip
from Austria
After my upper Styrian driving tour the day before,
my brother and I headed out on another driving tour,
this time going south to Lower Styria, a region
located in today’s Slovenia. Being located
in the southern part of Austria and in the heart
of Europe, it is extremely easy to go on local excursions
as the distances are very short and the road systems
are well developed. Today our destination was Ptui,
a town with about 23,000 residents, that is the
capital of Lower Styria.
As a matter of fact, Ptui (in German”Pettau”)
used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until
1918 when the empire collapsed and Lower Styria,
the region surrounding Ptuj, became part of Yugoslavia.
Ptuj was actually inhabited as early as the Stone
Age, and was settled by Celtic tribes by the late
Iron Age. The town took on specific importance in
the first century AD, when Ptuj was first mentioned
as a Roman settlement called Poetovio, which was
the headquarters of an important Roman legion.
Colourful facades in Ptuj
Over the next few centuries Ptuj saw a veritable
army of foreign conquerors, including the Avars,
Slavs and Franks. By 1555 Ptuj was incorporated
into the Duchy of Styria and in the early 20th century
more than 85% of residents spoke German. This naturally
changed after World War I. After 1945 the German
speaking population was expelled to Austria and
quite a large number later settled in North America.
Slovenski Trg
Having arrived in Ptuj at roughly 11 am, we parked
our vehicle close to the market square which was
teeming with local merchants selling home-grown
produce. The mild climate in Slovenia already provided
harvests of delicious looking local fruits and vegetables.
The Church of St. George is the most prominent building
on Ptuj’s main square, Slovenski Trg. Gothic
in style, it features some Roman-era windows. Adjacent
to the church is the Town’s Tower, first mentioned
in 1376 in the Town’s Statute. It is joined
by the Orpheus Monument, a Roman-era tombstone with
a height of almost 5 m. This was the biggest tombstone
ever to be found in the Roman province of Upper
Pannonia.
Ptuj's Orpheus Monument
Turning left on the narrow Slovenski Trg square
we headed downhill to a major square called Mestni
Trg. It is anchored by the Town Hall, an Art Nouveau
building completed in 1907. Today’s city administration
is still located in this building. From here we
headed down some narrow streets towards the banks
of the Drava River which is crossed by several bridges
before it opens up to a large reservoir. Strolling
back northwards we aimed to visit Ptuj Castle, which
is strategically located on a hill overlooking the
Drava River. The first settlers had lived here as
early as around 2000 BC. Today some of the pottery
and artifacts from this era are preserved in the
Ptuj Regional Museum.
Architectural details in Ptuj
During Roman times, a small fortress and basilica
were built on this hill. Today’s castle was
first mentioned in the early 12th century although
the records refer to an earlier castle that had
already been demolished by that time. Today’s
Ptuj Castle was considered one of the mightiest
until the time of the Turkish invasions. The castle
has an attractive Renaissance-era courtyard and
provides excellent views over the southern and western
part of town and the Drava River.
After an enjoyable time in the castle’s courtyard
we strolled down into the downtown area again and
sat down for a quick lunch on a restaurant patio
just steps away from the Town Hall. With all the
people strolling and relaxing on the patios, Ptjui
had an almost Mediterranean feel to it.
Ptuj's city hall
In the early afternoon we decided to make our way
home to Austria from Slovenia and drove northwards
past the city of Maribor, the country’s second
largest city. Rather than taking the highway, we
snaked our way through small roads on rolling hills
covered by vineyards. Slovenia has become a popular
travel destination for Central Europeans, due to
its topographical variety which ranges from Mediterranean
beaches to the high peaks of the Julian Alps and
the rolling hills and plains of the south. The region
of Lower Styria is so close to Austria that many
southern Austrians go there for day trips to hike,
bike, ski or enjoy short city getaways.
View from Ptuj's castle
After our arrival back in Eastern Styria in the
late afternoon I took a brief rest and then got
ready to pack my bags because a whole new adventure
was set to start: tomorrow I would fly out to Mallorca,
one of Spain’s most popular islands in the
Mediterranean – a destination I had wanted
to explore for a long time.
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Mallorca & Prague):
