Celje, Žiče & Ptuj, Slovenia

4 min readSep 12, 2019

I hit the road today for a tour of central and eastern Slovenia including stops in Celje, Špitalič, the Žiče Charterhouse and Ptuj (pronounced puh-tooey …really!).

The 50-mile drive from Novo Mesto north to Celje cut through the heart of Slovenia. There was no main highway. I drove tight, winding roads through green hills and small farming villages.

Celje ranks as the third largest city in Slovenia but it’s no metropolis. I parked and walked the center of town in less than 30 minutes.

One interesting stop was a museum that hovered over excavated Roman ruins including an intact floor mosaic from the third century.

I drove across the adjacent Savinja River and hiked up to the castle perched high on a hill overlooking town. It was erected in the 13th century and still commanded the great views of the area.

I next headed for the Žiče Charterhouse to the east of Celje. Again, I drove a narrow, winding road through hills and corn fields. As I rounded a curve, a beautiful church at the base of a valley in Špitalič came into view.

Of course I had to pull over and take a closer look. It seemed I was the only person in the valley this afternoon. The church, built in the French late Romanesque style, was consecrated in 1190 and has remained almost unchanged for more than 800 years. How do you improve on perfection?

Further down the road I finally arrived at the Žiče Charterhouse. The religious site was originally founded in the 1100s.

This monastery complex was completely fortified by surrounding walls and guard towers. I explored the remains of a church, great cloister, cemetery chapel and monk gardens inside.

Once again I hit the motorway headed east for the city of Ptuj. Slovenian cities are not large. I quickly found a car park and hiked through most of town including the castle and riverfront.