Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Old Town
ThesightsinPtuj'sOldTownaresimpleandnotverytime-consuming.Wanderaround,take
them in at your own pace, then reward yourself with a relaxing drink on a square.
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Slovenski Trg
Once Ptuj's main square, and now its most atmospheric, Slovenski trg is fronted by the TI,
Hotel Mitra, and the City Tower. Around this square are several reminders of Ptuj's Roman
past.
The white marble slab in the middle of the square, known as the
Orpheus Monument,
was commissioned by a Roman mayor in the second century
A.D.
to honor an esteemed fig-
ure: himself. Notice the musician playing the lyre (near the top, center of slab, below the
naked woman). Since the lyre is commonly associated with Orpheus, the monument's nick-
name stuck. When Rome fell, so did many of its structures, including this one. It became
buried in history, only to reappear in the 16th century as the town pillory, where criminals
were punished (secured by chains that were embedded in the holes you still see in the slab).
In the Middle Ages, the town judge would come out onto the balcony over the door of his
white house at the top of the square (at #6) to witness justice being served.
The
City Tower
was built in the late 16th century to defend against Ottoman invaders
(who were likely to pass by here on their way to lay siege to Vienna). The tower used to be
anotherstorytaller,butthetopburnedinadevastatingfire(oneoffourthatsweptthecityin
the late 17th and early 18th centuries). The newly shorter tower was capped with this jaunty
Baroque steeple.
