With Halar’s Poldek in Šmarje

“On a hill above Šmarje pri Jelšah is a manor house. A mansion with a very special history. A manor around which countless stories circulate. On a walk, visitors will learn about the history of the manor and the folk stories associated with it.

Discover these stories and the life of the manor between glamour and misery.”

The Rogatec Cultural Heritage Route encompasses the most important sites in Rogatec. It is a simple, approximately 2 km long, walking trail that starts in front of the Castle Pristava, the seat of the Municipality of Rogatec, where free parking is available. The first place to visit is the Renaissance-Baroque Strmol Manor House (during opening hours). In addition to exhibitions on glassmaking, flax production and the development of kitchens, the manor house also houses the Hofmann Collection, a collection of artworks. The manor houses the Rogatec Handicraft Centre with four professionally equipped workshops; pottery, weaving, weaving and glassmaking. The route continues to the centre of the town, the medieval Rogatec Square, first mentioned as a square in 1238. Climb the stone steps to the Baroque church of St Jernej, from where you can see another church – St Hijacinta, the only church dedicated to this saint in Slovenia. The highest point above the square, the preserved ruins of Gornji Rogatec Castle, offer a view over the square and across to the Croatian side. From here it’s downhill on a partly forest and partly asphalt road to the Rogatec Open Air Museum. The largest museum of its kind in Slovenia, preserving folk architecture of the sub-Pannon type. It presents the life of farmers and craftsmen in the 19th century and the early 20th century, mainly from the slopes of Boč, Donačka gora and Maclja. With heritage tastes, experiential workshops and handicraft demonstrations, the route is rounded off with a walk along the footpath, past the equestrian centre and the caravan park, to the car park at the castle annexe below Strmol Manor House, where the route began.

“A special wooden path winds through the property, high in the treetops. It takes you on a journey through a story that begins somewhere in the past and ends who knows where in the future. It was born in Janko’s head. Maybe even in his heart. It is about a time when vegetables tasted good, when neighbour helped neighbour and when ideas were bigger than dreams. A walk along this educational tourist trail reveals the self-sustaining sections of the estate – the herb garden, the forest nursery for two species of mushrooms, the cress, the vegetable, berry and herb field and, last but not least, the breeding of carp, sturgeon and albino beluga whales, which live in the aquaponic greenhouse, a replica of the pompous old garden nursery from Rogaška Slatina. Part of the educational tourist trail, on the bridge, is called the Walk among the Trunks, where you can learn about 17 different species of trees. At the end, you’ll climb a 25-metre-high wooden tower.
Janko has a big heart, filled with the experience and tradition of his ancestors and his own visionary ideas. And Pomona is always by his side…”