Zalec

Description:

The Municipality of Zalec includes the Savinja Valley and the surrounding hills. The valley is as flat as a table and surrounded by hills where small white churches and houses glow wherever you look. In the summer the average temperature is 24 °C and the average winter temperature is -2 °C.The countryside is as picturesque as anywhere in Slovenia but has its own special character. This is provided by the hop, thousands of hectares of hop covering the valley that give the valley its special stamp. If we speak of hop, we think of the Savinja Valley; and if we speak of the Savinja Valley, we think of hop. The two things are so closely linked that we cannot separate them, because hop has given an indelible stamp to the valley and its people. The link is a good hundred years old, and hop growing goes back for nearly four generations. In the town there are well-organized sport facilities and a sports hall. Žalec and its surroundings are known for their hop plantations and the valley is named after them: "the valley of the green gold".

Points of distinction : The old town core of Žalec with the Savin house, Museum of Hops Cultivation, the Parish Church of St. Nicholas, the defence tower, the Novo Celje Manor.

Famous citizen : The beginner of hops cultivation Janez Hausenbichler and the composer Risto Savin.