Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sights
CASTLE
Kostanjevica Castle
(Kostanjeviški Grad; 498 61 20, 498 70 08;
www.galerija-bj.si
; Grajska cesta 45;
adult/student & child/family €3/1.50/5, Cviček Wine Cellar admission with tasting €7.50;
9am-6pm Tue-Sun Apr-Oct, 9am-4pm Tue-Sun Nov-Mar)
About 1.5km southwest of
town, this former Cistercian monastery was a very wealthy institution in the Middle Ages,
but abandoned in 1785 when monastic orders were dissolved. Today it houses a large and
important art collection.
The beautifully painted main entrance through two squat painted towers leads to an
enormous courtyard enclosed by a cloister with 230 arcades across three floors. To the
west stands the
Church of the Virgin Mary
containing elements from the 13th to 18th
centuries; it is now used as exhibition space.
The
Božidar Jakac Gallery
upstairs in the castle contains 16th-century frescoes taken
from the church, and also works by such Slovenian artists as the impressionist Božidar
Jakac (1899-1989) and brothers France (1895-1960) and Tone Kralj (1900-75), who
painted expressionist and-cum-socialist realist canvases respectively. There's also a per-
manent collection of Old Masters from the Carthusian monastery at Pleterje.
Also in the castle is the
Cviček Wine Cellar
, all ancient casks and mould a-blooming
in the vaulted ceiling. Ask the TIC for the brochure
The Land of Cviček: Podgorjanska
Wine Tourist Road
.
Kostanjevica Cave
(Kostanjeviška Jama; 041 97 001, 498 70 88;
www.kostanjeviska-jama.com
; adult/
child/student €6/3/4; tours 10am, noon, 2pm, 4pm & 6pm daily Jul & Aug, Sat & Sun
mid-Apr-Jun, Sep & Oct)
This tiny cave, on a partly unsealed road about 1.5km southeast
of town, has half-hour tours in spring, summer and autumn. The guide will lead you 300m
in (only 750m of the cave has been fully explored), past a small lake and several galleries
full of stalactites and stalagmites. The temperature is a constant 12°C. The cave is home to
several species of bat.
CAVE
Old Town
No one's going to get lost or tired touring Kostanjevica - walk 400m up Oražnova ulica
and 400m down Talcev ulica and you've seen the lot.
NEIGHBOURHOOD
