Slovenska Bistrica

Description:

Slovenska Bistrica is a town and a municipality south of Maribor, Slovenia. It was established in the 13th century on a trade road between Maribor and Celje. The early settlement had only one church and a small number of inhabitants, but nonetheless gained the rights of a market town in 1313. The town was originally called Bistrica. The present name of Slovenska Bistrica appeared in records dating from 1565.

Today Slovenska Bistrica is a town of about 6,000 inhabitants with an increasing population that often commutes to Ljubljana for work because the two towns are a bit less than an hour's drive from one another. The city offers several interesting sights, including a castle, two churches, a Roman road, Ančnik fort (from Roman times), and more. It is also a good jumping-off point for people wishing to hike on Mount Boč, a nearby mountain peak and park.

As a municipality it unites several small towns and villages, including:

* Laporje
* Makole
* Poljčane
* Pragersko
* Spodnja Polskava
* Zgornja Polskava

Prominent persons from the municipality of Slovenska Bistrica include the politician and intellectual Jože Pučnik and the writer Anton Ingolič.

CASTLE
The west part of the medieval town core of Slovenska Bistrica is dominated by the castle, a fortification with four wings around the inner courtyard and protruding corner towers with different shaped floor plans. The older castle was mentioned in 1311. Later it was repeatedly rebuilt and the Wildenstein Counts encouraged the arranging of the garden. The majority of the rebuilding was done between 1623 and 1651. The castle has been preserved until today with the additions from the times of the Attems (1717-1945). On the north and east sides of the present complex is the redone Renaissance fortification with a defence moat and renovated facades, followed by the outbuildings, and a severely degraded castle park on the other side of the road.

Minerals of the Slovenska Bistrica and Oplotnica Municipalities
This permanent exhibition of the Institute of Culture illustrating the rich world of minerals of the Slovenska Bistrica and Oplotnica municipalities is beyond compare in Slovenia. In less than a year, its founders have assembled and exhibited about 200 specimens from different sites and more than seventy original mineral samples.

GRASLOV TOWER
Once a constituent part of the city's defense system, the Graslov or Žitna ("Wheat") Tower is the only building in Slovenska Bistrica in whose architecture we can still today feel the times of three or four hundred years ago. The ornate corners at the base of the tower constructed in the Gothic manner still reveal the Romanesque tradition. The Tower has a deepened ground floor and three stories with wooden floors above it. The long-neglected tower, used as a granary in the 19th century, was recently completely renovated, and in October 2004 the Tower was again open for curious visitors.