Ptuj Sights

  1. Church of St George

    Behind the City Tower in Slovenski trg is the Church of St George, which reveals an array of styles from Romanesque to neo-Gothic. The church contains some lovely late-14th-century choir chairs decorated with animals, a carved relief of the Epiphany dating from 1515 and frescoes in the middle of the south aisle and the restored Laib Altar, a three-winged altar painting by Konrad Laib (c 1410-60) completed in the mid-15th century.

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  2. Church of Sts Peter and Paul

    On the northern side of the Minorite monastery's inner courtyard, the Church of Sts Peter and Paul is one of the most beautiful examples of early Gothic architecture in Slovenia. Reduced to rubble by Allied bombing in January 1945., it was painstakingly rebuilt over the decades and has now risen - phoenix-like - as a gem of modern architecture on the same spot.

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  3. Dominican Monastery

    Just past Sunny Park (Sončni Park) in Muzejski trg is the former Dominican Monastery, which contains the lapidary and archeological collections of the Ptuj Regional Museum The monastery was built in 1230 but abandoned in the late 18th century when the Habsburgs dissolved the Catholic religious orders.

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  4. Drava Tower

    About 150m west of the monastery is round Drava Tower, a Renaissance water tower built as a defence against the Turks in 1551.

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  5. Late Gothic House

    The Late Gothic House, dating from about 1400, has an unusual projection held up by a Moor's head.

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  6. Little Castle

    The renovated yellow pile called the Little Castle was the erstwhile home of the Salzburg bishops and a number of aristocratic families over the centuries.

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  7. Mestni trg

    At the end of Krempljeva ulica, which runs north from Minoritski trg, is Mestni trg, a rectangular square once called Florianplatz in honour of the St Florian Column (1745) standing in the northwest corner. To the east is the neo-Gothic town hall on Mestni trg 1, designed by an architect from Graz in 1907.

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  8. Mihelič Gallery

    Inside the Drava Tower is the Mihelič Gallery, which hosts temporary exhibits of modern art.

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  9. Minorite monastery

    On the east side of Minoritski trg, which has a 17th-century plague pillar of Mary and the Infant Jesus in the centre, is the massive Minorite monastery, which was built in the 13th century. Because the Franciscan Minorites dedicated themselves to teaching, the order was not dissolved under the edict issued by Habsburg Emperor Joseph II in the late 18th century, and it has continued to function in Ptuj for more than seven centuries.

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  10. Mithraic shrines

    The key attraction at the Dominican Monastary are the Mithraic shrines at Spodnja Hajdina (key at house No 37a) and Zgornji Breg (key at Ulica K Mitreju 3), a couple of kilometres west of town where you can see the Roman tombstones, altars and wonderful mosaics unearthed in Ptuj.

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  12. Orpheus Monument

    In front of the City Tower stands the 5m-tall Orpheus Monument, a Roman tombstone from the 2nd century with scenes from the Orpheus myth. It was used as a pillory in the Middle Ages; those found guilty of a crime were shackled to iron rings attached to the holes on the lower half.

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  13. Prešernova ulica

    Pedestrian Prešernova ulica, the town's market in the Middle Ages, leads westward from Slovenski trg. The arched spans that look like little bridges above some of the narrow side streets are to support older buildings.

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  14. Ptuj Castle

    Parts of the Ptuj Castle date back to the first half of the 12th century (eg the west tower), but what you see here is an agglomeration of styles from the 14th to the 18th centuries put into place by one aristocratic owner after another.

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  15. Ptuj Regional Museum

    The Ptuj Castle houses the Ptuj Regional Museum on its three arcaded floors, but mostly worth the trip for the views of Ptuj and the Drava. The shortest way to the castle from here is to follow narrow Grajska ulica, which starts just west of the Garni Hotel Mitra and leads to a covered wooden stairway and the castle's Renaissance Peruzzi Portal dating from 1570.

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  16. Slovenski trg

    Murkova ulica, which has some interesting old houses on it, leads westward from Mestni trg to funnel-shaped Slovenski trg, the heart of old Ptuj. In the centre, the City Tower (Mestni Stolp) was erected in the 16th century as a belfry and later turned into a watch tower. Roman tombstones and sacrificial altars from Poetovio were incorporated into the tower's exterior walls in 1830; you can still make out reliefs of Medusa's head, dolphins and a man on horseback.

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