Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Bogenšperk Castle
01 / ELEV 412M
The 16th-century
Bogenšperk Castle
(Grad Bogenšperk; 041 703 992, 898 76 64;
www.bogensperk.si
; Bogenšperk 5; adult/child & student/senior €3.50/2.50/2.70;
tours hourly 10am-6pm Tue-Sat, 10am-7pm Sun Jul & Aug, shorter hrs Sep-Jun)
is in
many respects the secular equivalent of the Cistercian Abbey at Stična. Here the celeb-
rated polymath Janez Vajkard Valvasor spent the most productive two decades of his life.
Valvasor bought the Renaissance-style castle from the aristocratic Wagen family in
1672 and installed his printing press, engraving workshop and extensive library here. But
due to the enormous debts incurred in getting his magnum opus published, he was forced
to sell up 20 years later.
The castle, with its rectangular courtyard and three towers (the fourth burned down in
the 19th century), houses a museum devoted to the great man, his work and Slovenian cul-
ture. Valvasor's library is now used as a wedding hall, but his study, with its beautiful par-
quetry, black limestone columns and painted ceiling, is pretty much the way he left it
when he performed his last alchemical experiments here. Other rooms contain examples
of Valvasor's original cartography and etching, an original four-volume set of his famous
work, a working printing press and a collection of hunting trophies, including a 360kg
brown bear. The most interesting exhibits, however, are the ones that deal with folk dress,
superstition and folk medicine.
Bogenšperk is accessible from Ivančna Gorica only by car or bicycle. Trains link
Ljubljana with Litija (€2.90 to €4.50, 30 minutes, up to two dozen a day), but it's still an-
other 7km south to Bogenšperk - much of it uphill.
Krka Valley
The Krka River springs from a karst cave southwest of Stična, near the village of Trebnja
Gorica, and runs to the southeast and east until it joins the mightier Sava near Brežice. At
94km it is Dolenjska's longest waterway and one of the cleanest rivers in Slovenia.
