Haloze () is a geographical sub-region of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. It is in the northeast of the country, in the

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

region.

General characteristics

Haloze is a hilly area, running roughly east–west bounded by the border with

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

to the south and the

Dravinja The Dravinja (german: Drann, ) is the largest tributary of the Drava River in Slovenia. It is long. Its source is on the Pohorje Massif southwest of Mount Rogla about 1,150 m above sea level. The river passes Zreče, the town of Slovenske Konji ...

and

Drava The Drava or Drave''Utrata Fachwörterbuch ...

rivers to the north. In total, it comprises approximately , where around 21,000 people live in seven municipalities ( Cirkulane, Gorišnica,

Majšperk Majšperk (, in older sources ''Majšperg'', german: Monsberg) is a settlement in the Municipality of Majšperk in northeastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the municipality. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. The municipality i ...

, Podlehnik, Videm, Zavrč, and Žetale). From its western end near

Makole Makole (, german: Maxau) is a settlement in northeastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Makole. It lies in the Dravinja Valley. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. It was first mentioned in written documents dat ...

, it runs in a relatively narrow southwest–northeast belt as far as Zavrč, about in length as the crow flies. Its western part is wooded with thick

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

and pine forests, while its eastern part has been a noted

viticultural Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

area since

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times.

Geology

While Haloze has a similar climate to the rest of the Drava Valley, it is rather different geologically. Its soils are generally mid-

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

based on

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

rock. Lying in the southern part of the Drava Valley, the Haloze Hills rose before the drying-out of the

Pannonian Sea The Pannonian Sea was a shallow ancient lake, where the Pannonian Basin in Central Europe is now. The Pannonian Sea existed from about 10 Ma (million years ago) until 1 Ma, during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, when marine sediments were dep ...

entered its final phase in the middle of

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

epoch, about 600,000 years ago. The water ruptured its way through the modern Đerdap Gorge on the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

River and flowed rapidly away, causing the strong erosion of poorly consolidated sandstone and thus steep hillsides. Haloze's highest point is in Jelovice, at .

Dialect

The

Haloze dialect The Haloze dialect ( sl, haloško narečje, ''haloščina'') is a Slovene dialects, Slovene dialect in the Pannonian dialect group. It is spoken in the Haloze Hills south of the line defined by the Dravinja and Drava rivers, extending to the Croati ...

is one of the Pannonian dialects of spoken Slovene. from ''Karta slovenskih narečij v priročni izdaji'', Cankarjeva založba, Ljubljana, 1957. See

Slovene dialects In a purely dialectological sense, Slovene dialects ( sl, slovenska narečja , ) are the regionally diverse varieties that evolved from old Slovene, a South Slavic language of which the standardized modern version is Standard Slovene. This also ...

Wine

Haloze is one of the seven districts of the Podravje wine region, with the others being Ljutomer–

Ormož Ormož (; in older sources , hu, Ormosd, german: Friedau, Prekmurje Slovene: ''Ormošd'') is a town in the traditional region of Prlekija, part of Styria, in northeastern Slovenia. It lies on the left bank of the Drava River and borders with Cro ...

Radgona Bad Radkersburg (; sl, Radgona; archaic hu, RegedeDivald, Kornél. 1931. ''Old Hungarian Art''. London: Oxford University Press, p. 117.) is a spa town in the southeast of the Austrian state of Styria, in the district of Südoststeiermark. G ...

– Kapela,

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

Prekmurje Prekmurje (; dialectically: ''Prèkmürsko'' or ''Prèkmüre''; hu, Muravidék) is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region of Slovenia, settled by Slovenes and a Hungarian minority, lying between the Mur Ri ...

, the Central

Slovene Hills The Slovene Hills or the Slovenian Hills ( sl, Slovenske gorice, german: Windische Bühel or ) is the largest hilly region of Slovenia, a smaller part is located in the Austrian province of Styria. It is situated in the northeast of the country and ...

, and Šmarje–Virštanj. Viticulture in Haloze was started by the

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

as early as the 4th century BC, and spread with the arrival of the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

also continued the tradition as wine played an important role in their ceremonies. The Slavic tribes who later settled in Haloze took on the cultivation of vines from their predecessors.J. Robinson (ed) ''The Oxford Companion to Wine''. Third Edition pp. 632-633 Oxford University Press 2006 Vineyards here mostly line the upper hillsides, as the lower slopes are often kept in excessive shade. The traditional tilling of horizontal lines of vines included the backbreaking task of carrying soil from the lowest row to the top. As the rows were tilled from the top down, the soil tended to slide downslope, and to upkeep the vineyards properly, the soil collected at the bottom had to be returned to the top. With vertically planted vineyards on less steep slopes, this work is no longer as necessary as it once was, but on most sites grass is allowed to grow between the rows to minimize erosion. White wines dominate the area. Laski Rizling is the most frequently planted grape, which is mainly used to produce medium dry, slightly syrupy, wine. However, dry Laski Rizling is also produced. Other popular white wines include Traminec,

Beli Pinot Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produces white ...

, Sauvignon, and Renski Rizling. The only red produced in significant quantities is Modri Pinot. Haložan is a blend of locally produced Laski Rizling, Sauvignon, Beli Pinot, and Sipon that ages quite well. It is often mixed with sparkling water to make

spritzer A spritzer is a tall, chilled drink, usually made with white wine and carbonated water or sparkling mineral water. Fermented simple syrup can be used instead of white wine to keep it sweet but flavor neutral. Origin ''Spritzer'' is derived fro ...

. Most of the wines grown in Haloze are produced, stored, and bottled in

Ptuj Ptuj (; german: Pettau, ; la, Poetovium/Poetovio) is a town in northeastern Slovenia that is the seat of the Municipality of Ptuj. Ptuj, the oldest recorded city in Slovenia, has been inhabited since the late Stone Age and developed from a Roman ...

in the neighbouring Central

area.

Monuments

Borl Castle, first mentioned in writing in 1199, is on a high rocky ledge overlooking an ancient crossing point on the Drava River. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the castle was used by the occupying Germans as an internment camp, and after the war it was converted into a hotel, but then lay empty and abandoned. Recently the state has taken over the care of it and has undertaken its architectural restoration.

References

External links

Haloze–Zagorje tourist zone

Haloze.net
{{Coord, 46, 22, 10.83, N, 15, 56, 8.41, E, region:SI_dim:40km, display=title Geography of Styria (Slovenia) Wine regions of Slovenia Natura 2000 in Slovenia