Slovenske Konjice ( or ; german: Gonobitz, in older sources also ''Gannobitz'') is a town in northeastern

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 the seat of the Municipality of Slovenske Konjice. The area is part of the traditional region of

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 ...

History and town sights

The town of Slovenske Konjice lies below the northern slopes of Mount Konjice ( sl, Konjiška Gora) and the winegrowing Škalce Hills. On a hill above the town to the southwest are the ruins of 12th-century Gonobitz Castle ( sl, Grad Konjice, german: Burg Gonobitz), which has later additions and was abandoned in the 18th century. Its ruins have been partially restored.Barron, Yuri. 2016. ''The Slovenia book: top 100 destinations''. Slovenske Konjice, p. 173. Trebnik dvorec1

Above Old Square ( sl, Stari trg) stands the medieval Trebnik Mansion. The more than 860-year-old dense town line is a sloping square, from Trebnik Mansion past St. George's parish church, along a small stream in an open channel, down to 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 ...

River. The new Town Square (''Mestni trg'') is on the other bank of the river, connected with Old Square by a bridge with four horse heads on the corners. Slovenske Konjice, St

The dominant structure in the upper part of the town's medieval core is the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

dedicated to

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

and belonging to the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor ( la, Archidioecesis Mariborensis, sl, Nadškofija Maribor) is an archdiocese located in the city of Maribor in Slovenia. History * 1859 : Maribor (then Marburg) became the see of the Diocese of Lavant ...

, dating back to the late 13th century with 18th-century additions (a Baroque side chapel). The veneration of the saint at this place goes even further back in history. The town was mentioned in written sources dating to 1165 as a seminal parish. The castle was first mentioned in 1148 and the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

in 1236. The town itself was not surrounded by walls. At the time of the Ottoman raids, the church with its

vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...

served as a fortified refuge. A second church in the settlement is dedicated to

Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

. It dates to the mid-16th century with a 17th-century belfry and

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

additions. The main street and the transversal connections above the Dravinja are lined with longitudinal or transversally positioned one-storey houses with well-preserved Gothic cores and Renaissance additions. The façades were restyled in the 19th century (

Biedermeier The ''Biedermeier'' period was an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848 during which the middle class grew in number and the arts appealed to common sensibilities. It began with the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in ...

Historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely u ...

). A rarity is the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

building of the former savings bank. A

Marian column Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queenslan ...

dating to the mid-18th century and a column shrine dedicated to

Saint Florian Florian ( la, Florianus; 250 – 304 AD) was a Christians, Christian holy man, and the patron saint of Linz, Austria; chimney sweeps; soapmakers, and firefighting, firefighters. His feast day is 4 May. Florian is also the patron saint of Upper ...

above the stream (both designed by the local artist Franc Zamlik in 1750) dominate the open square. The town core is well preserved. Slovenske Konjice played a role during the

Slovenian peasant revolt of 1515 The Slovene Peasant Revolt ( sl, slovenski kmečki upor, german: Windischer Bauernbund) took place in 1515 and was the largest peasant revolt in the Slovene Lands. It engulfed most of what is now Slovenia as well as a significant portion of the pr ...

, with rebels here composing a letter with their demands to send to the emperor in Vienna. Economic development was boosted after construction of main

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

road in the 18th century. During the 19th century the town got a local court. The

Austrian Southern Railway The Austrian Southern Railway (german: link=no, Österreichische Südbahn) is a long double track railway, which linked the capital Vienna with Trieste, former main seaport of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, by railway for the first time. It now ...

was built in 1846, but it ran east of Konjice. On 20 June 1892, work started on a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

(760 mm)

steam railroad Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...

line called ''Konjičanka'' from

Poljčane Poljčane () is a settlement in northeastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Poljčane. It lies 35 km south of Maribor and 35 km northeast of Celje. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. The town lies i ...

to Slovenske Konjice, which was opened on 20 December 1892. On 29 June 1921 it was extended to

Zreče Zreče (; german: Rötschach bei Gonobitz) is a town in northeast Slovenia and is the seat of the Municipality of Zreče. It lies on the slopes of Pohorje in the upper valley of the Dravinja River. The area is part of the traditional region of Sty ...

. It was closed in 1963, and the tracks were removed in 1970. A museum locomotive K.3 (Gonobitz), built by the Krauss factory at

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

and used on this line, is on display at the

Slovenian Railway Museum The Slovenian Railway Museum, or Railway Museum of Slovenian railways ( sl, Železniški muzej Slovenskih železnic), in Ljubljana, Slovenia, located on Parmova ulica 35, is the national museum for Slovenia's railway history. The museum is tas ...

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

Name

Over the centuries, the name ''Konjice'' appears in written documents in various forms: ''Gonviz'' (1251), ''Gombicz'' (1370), ''Gannabitz'' (1570), ''Gonaviz'' (1594), ''Gonavitz'' (1630), ''Gonwitz'' (1636), ''Gonowitz'' (1662), ''Ganowiz'' (1680), ''Gonnawitz'' (1680), and modern German ''Gonobitz''. The

adjective In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Tra ...

''Slovenske'' was added to the Slovene name ''Konjice'' in 1934, under the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

, in order to distinguish it from the town of

Konjic Konjic ( sr-Cyrl, Коњиц) is a city and municipality located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in northern Herzegovina, around southwest of Sarajevo. ...

in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Monuments

* Konjice Castle *Trebnik Mansion * Vineyard Mansion at Škalce * St. George parish church * St. Anna Cemetery church *

Žiče Charterhouse Žiče Charterhouse, also Seiz Charterhouse(german: Kartäuserkloster Seiz, la, Domus in Valle Sancti Johannis), was a Carthusians, Carthusian monastery or Charterhouse (monastery), Charterhouse in the narrow valley of Žičnica Creek, also known ...

Owners of the castle

* house of Gonobitz 1148–1329 * house of Wilthausen 1329–1385 * house of

Duino Duino ( sl, Devin, german: Tybein) is today a seaside resort on the northern Adriatic coast. It is a ''hamlet'' of Duino-Aurisina, a municipality (''comune'') of the Friuli–Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy. The settlement, picturesque ...

1385–1406 *

lords of Walsee The Lords of Walsee were a German noble family between the 13th and 15th centuries. Taking their name from Bad Waldsee in Upper Swabia, they were originally ministerials (unfree knights) in the service of the abbey of Weissenburg and the Staufe ...

1406–1469 * regional princes 1496–1576 * Johann von Khißl 1576–1592 * Archduke Ferdinand 1594–1597 * counts Tattenbach 1597–1670 *

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

1670–1685 * Johann and Otto Tattenbach 1685–1692 *

1692–1783 * Imperial Religious Fund (''Religionsfond'') 1783–1828 * princes of

Windisch-Grätz The House of Windisch-Graetz, also spelled Windisch-Grätz, is an Austrian-Slovenian aristocratic family, descending from Windischgraz in Lower Styria (present-day Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia). The noble dynasty serving the House of Habsburg achieve ...

1828–1945

Geography

Climate

Tourism

* Slovenske Konjice, formerly nicknamed "The Town of Wine and Flowers", won the Pan-European

Entente Florale The Entente Florale Europe (, "Flowery Alliance of Europe") is an international horticultural competition established to recognise municipalities and villages in Europe for excellence in horticultural displays. Trophies are presented annually by t ...

Gold Medal Award in 1998 and 2004. * The traditional St. George festival (''Jurjevanje'') ranks Slovenske Konjice among Europe's Carnival Cities. The town has been rewarded for its efforts with the national "Most Beautiful Excursion Destination" award by the Tourist Association of Slovenia for many years in a row.

Culture

The town of Slovenske Konjice hosts an international festival of underwater film and photography named "Sprehodi pod morjem" (Walking beneath the Sea), which is held every year at the end of January (on the last Thursday of the month).

Sport

ND Dravinja Nogometno društvo Dravinja, commonly referred to as ND Dravinja or simply Dravinja, is a Slovenian football club from Slovenske Konjice, which plays in the Slovenian Third League. The club was founded in 1934. They have played 16 seasons in the ...

Football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

Sport events

Grand Prix Slovenia International Boxing Competition

Konjice (mini) Marathon (Konjiški maraton)

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Slovenske Konjice include: * Konrad von Hebenstreit (died 1412), archbishop of

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Is ...

* Ivan Minatti (1924–2012), Slovene poet * Branko Rudolf (1904–1987), Slovene writer *

Adelma Vay Baroness Adelma Vay or von Vay, also Vay de Vaya (born Countess Adelaide von Wurmbrand-Stuppach; October 21, 1840 – May 24, 1925), was a medium and pioneer of spiritualism in Slovenia and Hungary. Life and work Vay was the elder daughter ...

(1840–1925), writer,

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

, and pioneer of

Spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

Jure Zdovc Jurij "Jure" Zdovc (born 13 December 1966) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player and coach Zdovc Returning to Helm of National Team.] As a player, he was a 1.98 m (6'6") tall point guard, who began his professional playing career ...

(born 1966), Slovene basketball player and coach *

Tamara Zidanšek Tamara Zidanšek (; born 26 December 1997) is a Slovenian tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of No. 22 in singles and No. 54 in doubles, and is the current number-one Slovene tennis player in singles. She has won one singles title an ...

(born 1997), Slovene tennis player

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Slovenske Konjice is twinned with:http://www.slovenskekonjice.si/obcinskevsebine/241 Občina Slovenske Konjice: Prijateljska mesta. Retrieved 1 April 2019.

International projects and other forms of cooperation

References

External links

The official travel guide to Slovenia

Slovenske Konjice video on YouTube

Slovenske Konjice on Geopedia

Association of Historical cities of Slovenia: Towns of Culture

Walking beneath the Sea Film festival
{{Authority control Populated places in the Municipality of Slovenske Konjice Cities and towns in Styria (Slovenia)