Slovenia is a country that has it all, wild rivers, superb wine, jaw-dropping castles and huge lakes besides that there are a lot of interesting cities outside of Ljubljana which have a long history and a lot to offer. One of my personal favorite places in the country that I’ve been living for my entire life, remains the cultural hideaway of Celje (for none-slovene speakers it’s pronounced tselyeh). The third largest city in the county, running at the confluence of Voglajna and Savinja rivers, has a pleasant old town and tremendous views from its castle. But as it often gets overlooked in favour of Maribor and Ptuj, making it here feels like something of a discovery.
Celje was built by the Romans in the 1st century AD as Celeia, a prosperous, densely populated, walled town on the Roman road from Aquileia to Pannonia on the River Savinja 74km northeast of Ljubljana. Celje enjoyed a second period of glory as a principality under the wealthy Counts of Celje during the Middle Ages. In 1456 it came under the Habsburgs, where it remained until 1918.
How to get to Celje
There are several ways how to get to this city. If you don’t have a car the best alternative way is to use the train. You can reach Celje up to two dozen times a day by regular train and six times a day by ICS express train from Ljubljana. The ride takes about 1-1.5 hours and cost €7 to €12.30 for one way (For more information check the offical website of Slovenian railway http://www.slo-zeleznice.si/en/; there are several discounts available, especially during the weekends). In Celje you arrive on the main railway station which is one of the oldest in Slovenia (1836). It’s located on Krekov trg, on the eastern edge of the old city centre, opposite to Celjski dom.
A Walk Around Krekov Trg
When you leave the train station one of the first things that you notice is that the adjacent road to get there is actually routed around a 120 year old plane tree, in order to preserve its greatness. If that wasn’t enough, the tree itself was awarded the grand ‘tree of the year’ in 2006. One of the main squares in Celje is Krekov trg, which besides the old city centre was under refurbishment between 2011 and the majority of the works were finished before the start of Eurobasket in 2013, which Celje also hosted.
After the renovations the square is only accessible by foot. Here you can find some of the most beautiful buildings in the city. The building that attracts the biggest attention for the visitors is certanly Celjski Dom. For a second you might have thought that this “castle” came straight out of a fairy tale. It was built in an eclectic style by the Viennese architect Peter Paul Brang between 1905 and 1906 as the main seat of ethnic German associations in the town. You can read more about it here. Today it hosts several cultural associations and the town’s tourist information centre, and is a venue for concerts and theatre.
To the south of Krekov trg and connected to the Hotel Evropa is the 16th-century Defence Tower (Obrambni Stolp; Razlagova ulica), and about 150m further on, the Water Tower (Vodni Stolp; Razlagova ulica 19), part of the city wall and ramparts, built between 1451 and 1473
When you walk along any of Celje’s charming streets you will run into a bronze statue of an intriguing figure carrying a large suitcase in the pedestrian area of Krekov Trg. This woman’s name is Alma Maximiliana Karlin, an early twentieth-century travel writer born in 1889, polyglot (she spoke nearly a dozen languages) and poet who earned a taste of the travel bug from an early age, exploring nearby places such as Tyrol, Diamatia and Bavaria, and that was just the beginning.
After moving to England and graduating after learning eight languages she set off on eight years of adventures, from Panama and Peru to Japan and Asia’s south pacific islands. Legends has it that she was almost eaten by cannibals in Papua New Guinea but was too skinny to be truly appetizing.
She did eventually come back to Celje, where she formed a foreign languages school and gave a plethora of lectures in addition to publishing her short stories and books, you can explore the world through some of Alma’s personal items, including 400 postcards, currently on display at the Regional Museum of Celje.
Along the medieval corners and streets covered in cobblestones, there are a number of interesting architectural delights to be seen with a beautiful blend of Baroque, Renaissance and more modern 20th century buildings peppering the landscape. My personal opinion is that it’s worth going on a guided tour (ask at the information office or check out for more information here) to truly appreciate what you see around you.
Other two important squares of the town are Glavni trg and Slomškov trg, the heart of the old town, which can help get your bearings. You can also spot traces of Celje’s medieval walls along the Ulica na Okopih.
Museums Worth a Visit
If it rains you won’t be bored in this city because here you can find quite a lot of interesting museums and galleries. Museums to visit locally include the Children’s Museum, The Museum of Recent History, the regional museum with its 17th century frescoes, everything about Counts of Celje and before mentioned exhbition dedicated to Alma Karlin. Also make sure to venture out a few kilometers outside of town to explore the Roman Necropolis featuring the 1st–3rd century AD marble tombs of local Roman dignitaries.
The Museum of Recent History
Located in the town hall, this museum (Muzej novejše zgodovine) offers an enter taining narrative of Celje from the late 19th century. Short films intro duce local history and the “Street of Craftsmen” upstairs. There is a splendid re-creation of shops and ateliers in the mid-20th century with displays of tools and ephemera. The museum also contains Herman’s Den (Hermanov brlog), the only children’s museum in Slovenia. Opposite the museum is a former Minorite monastery, nicknamed Old Pot (Stari pisker), that served as a World War II penitentiary. Nazis shot 374 hostages in six mass executions in its courtyard in 1941 and 1942.
Through one nondescript road, through a parking lot you will arrive to the old studio (dates back to 1899) of one of the city’s most famous former residents, Josip Pelikan, a renowned 20th century photographer who’s studio resembling a greenhouse, which still stands in the town center. It is considered one of the best preserved luxurious glass photographic ateliers in Europe and now remains part of the Museum of Recent History. Josip’s story is a rather unique one, during WWII he went to great measures to documents the atrocities that happened to the people of Celje and later focused on more landscape and nature photography (Fotografski Atelje Josipa Pelikana; ✆03-428 64 28; http://www.muzej-nz-ce.si; Razlagova ulica 5; adult/child incl main museum entry;🕑Tuesday-Saturday 9am-1pm, Sunday and holidays 2pm-6pm)
photographic atelier
(Muzej Novejše Zgodovine; ✆ 03-428 64 10; http://www.muzej-nz-ce.si; Prešernova ulica 17; adult/child €3/1.50, free entry for preschool children and on specific dates: Culture day (8th of February), International Day of Families (15th of May), Museum day (18th of May), Week of Children (October), The Happy Day of Culture (3rd of December);🕑Tuesday-Friday 9am-5pm, Saturday 9am-1pm, Sunday and holidays 2pm-6pm; closed on 1st January, Easter Sunday, 1st and 2nd May, 1st November, 25th and 31st December)
Celje Regional Museum
A birch-lined park along the Savinja River’s northern embankment has an open-air lapidary of Roman remains unearthed in the Celje area, overlooked by the 16th-century Old Counts’ Mansion, a lovely Renaissance building housing a branch of the Celje Regional Museum. The collection includes a large lapidarium in the basement with some 200 finds, and a huge collection of folk items and furnishings from the Savinja region on the ground floor. On the 1st floor a dozen rooms are done up in styles from different periods (eg baroque, neoclassical, Biedemeier, Secessionist), but the main attraction here is the astonishing Celje Ceiling (Celjski Strop) in the central main hall. This is an enormous trompe l’oeil painting of columns, towers, angels frolicking skyward, noblemen and ladies looking down at you looking up. Completed in about 1600 by an Italian artist, the mural was meant to lift the ceiling up to the sky, and it does just that. Other panels represent the four seasons and show scenes from Roman and Greek mythology.
(Pokrajinski Muzej Celje; ✆03-428 09 50; www.pokmuz-ce.si/en; adult/child both branches €5/3; 🕑Tuesday-Friday 10am-4pm (Nov-Feb), Tueday-Sunday 10am-6pm (Mar-Oct), Saturday 9am-1pm and Sunday closed (Nov-Feb)
Interesting Fact
Sofia Hess, a woman who had a notable influence on the life of the great inventor Alfred Nobel, lived in Celje for a while in the 1870s. From 1876 when Nobel met her in Baden near Vienna until his death in 1896, Nobel provided substantial financial support to Sofia and left her an annual rent of 6,000 guldens in his will. Nobel and Sofia often visited Celje where her sister Amalija resided. Her husband, Albert Brunner, principal of the imperial zinc works, wrote to Nobel about technological advancements and investment opportunities. Upon his initiative, Nobel was even considering the acquisition of the Fehleisen’s haloxyline factory in Celje.
This is the first part of the post which will be dedicated to Celje. The next part will be entirely about Celje Castle also known as Celje Upper Castle or Old Castle. In the future posts about Celje I’ll write more about things to see in this city as well as some alternatives and recommendations for some restaurants in this area.
GASPER EXPLORER 
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