Rogaška Slatina - from healing mineral springs, to the tallest building in the country and the goddess of fruit in its countryside

Rogaška Slatina is located only eighty kilometers north of Zagreb, not even three kilometers from the border with Croatia, which makes it an ideal weekend destination for residents of the Croatian metropolis and the northwestern part of Lijepa naše. It is located in the historical province of Styria, the statistical region of Savinjska. Given that it is a town with less than five thousand inhabitants, Rogaška Slatina can boast a lot; it is home to the most famous health resort in Slovenia, a world-famous glass factory and the headquarters of a cosmetic brand, and recently I can boast of the fact that the highest building in Slovenia is also located there - the Kristal viewpoint.

Rogaš slatina
Photo: Nikola Zoko

In addition to the city center, the rural surroundings are also intriguing, or as they say in Slovenian countryside. Not even five kilometers northwest of the city center in a suburban settlement Zgornje Sečovo there is a rural tourist household (tourist farm)  Pomona - tourism in the countryside whose founder and owner Janko Zupanec. As they themselves state, without any pretension, it is a divine combination of unspoilt nature, pleasure and excellent local cuisine. For those who don't know Pomona is the Roman goddess of fruits and gardens, and Janko's entrepreneurial story began with the fact that at one time he cultivated an orchard of 2000 William pears, so it was more than logical to start our two-day stay at this farm with that welcome toast.

Jankov is what the Kristal viewpoint is to the urban part of Rogaška Slatina wooden lookout point for its rural part. It offers a wonderful view of the surrounding hills and the parish church of St. Floriana in the neighboring village of the same name, next to which his ancestors are buried. Pomona was our base during our two-day stay in Rogaška Slatina, and we spent the entire second day of our stay there.

Rogaš slatina
Photo: Nikola Zoko

When you are in Rogaška Slatina, you simply must visit theirs glass factory which has a tradition since 1665. They also offer a tourist tour of the glass factory, during which you get an insight into all stages of the production of top quality crystal glass; from the preparation of essential ingredients, through the actual glass blowing to finishing works such as sanding and painting the works. It was truly impressive to see a group of master glassmakers and their assistants turning red-hot quartz sand into an elegant wine glass. At the end of that tour is theirs "Hall of fame" where you can see their most famous works, including the statue of the Croatian discography award "Porin".

Rogaš slatina
Photo: Nikola Zoko

After the visit to the crystal glass factory, there was also a visit to the lookout point named after it Crystal. It is 106 meters high, which makes it the tallest building in Slovenia. The panoramic elevator takes only 35 seconds from the ground floor to the top. On the first floor there is a coffee bar where you can refresh yourself, and on the second floor you can experience the VR "Flight with Pegasus". One part of the floor part of the observation deck is glazed, so standing on it and looking at the ground a hundred meters away can cause real vertigo for those with a weak stomach. But all that is optional; you may or may not step there. On the ground floor there is an excellently decorated souvenir shop where you can buy a lot of memorabilia, but also quite profane things such as Stolp crystal gin. Promotional brochures in the souvenir shop are decorated with slogans "At the top everything is crystal clear".

Rogaš slatina
Photo: Nikola Zoko

As part of the observatory construction project, a pedestrian and bicycle overpass "Sunce" (Sunset) over which we crossed during our bike tour that started in front of the lookout point. It was wonderful to enjoy the panoramic view from the viewpoint, but after the experience from a bird's eye view, it was important to get to know the area from a frog's or beaver's perspective, so we headed to Dabrov centar (Bobrov center).

Rogaš slatina
Photo: Nikola Zoko

We had a combination of regular and electric bikes at our disposal, and the final destination was about seven kilometers from the viewpoint. The old saying goes that you are too fast in a car and too slow to get to know a place on foot, so a bicycle is the ideal "compromise".

beaver museum
Photo: Nikola Zoko

What should definitely be mentioned is the enviable level of cycling infrastructure in Rogaška Slatina, after all, as in the whole of Slovenia; wherever possible, the bicycle paths are physically separated from the road, and between them there is a metal guardrail lined with wood, which is not only more pleasing to the eye, because the natural material fits better into the environment, but also significantly increases the level of safety, because if you fall into a tree, you will surely will get you through with milder injuries than falling on metal. In the Beaver Center, visitors can learn about the beavers themselves and a handful of useful things about the ambient geomorphology, flora and fauna, and within it there is also a souvenir shop and a coffee bar.

homely miami
Photo: Nikola Zoko

After the bike tour, it was necessary to have something to eat; and it turned out to be an ideal location home MiaMia. It is a restaurant located in an old peasant house with an attached property and many domestic animals. Everything tasted there was simply excellent; a true gastro time machine that evokes the smells and tastes of our grandmothers' kitchens, but with a dose of refined modernity. This is suggestively helped by the retro interior, as well as, of course, the food itself, which is anything but ready-made. Slovenian - Styrian gastro heritology interpreted in an unobtrusively modern way.

Aphrodite
Photo: Nikola Zoko

When you are in Rogaška Slatina, you should also visit the cosmetics factory Aphrodite. Like the glass factory, you can also visit Aphrodite as a tourist. For organized groups of at least 15 people, with prior agreement, they also hold beauty workshops with professional presentation of care. In their store, you can also buy their products at reduced prices. Their story begins in 1970 when she is the founder of the brand Danica Zorin Mijošek opened her beauty salon. Her first product was a chamomile facial cream. In the years that followed, Afrodita became an international brand, and Mrs. Danica is still active in the company's operations.

pavilion temple
Photo: Nikola Zoko

If we already had a virtual flight with Pegasus at the observation deck, it's time to see him in reality, at least his sculpture in the wider city center. It is the work of the academic sculptor and painter Vasilije Ćetković - Vasko. Legend has it that it is Pegaz kicked the ground and discovered Donat – the natural mineral water richest in magnesium in the world. Pegasus can be found on the coat of arms and on the flag of Rogaška Slatina, and the statue's hoof is said to have the same effect as Gregory of Nin's thumb - whoever catches it can make a wish that will eventually come true.

In a copper engraving in German from 1687, there is a legend about Pegasus, who was told by the god Apollo where to strike with his hoof in order to find healing mineral water. There is another legend, although not about the discovery but about the popularization of the Rogaš spring, and it concerns a Croatian great man Petra Zrinski. The story goes that in 1665 he was hunting in the area of ​​Rogaška Slatina, and that due to a problem with his liver, he sought salvation in a glass of water from the "miraculous spring" that local residents talked about. The water really helped, and Petar informed the imperial court about this with a proposal to build a health resort next to the spring.

pub magnesia donut mg
Photo: Nikola Zoko

When you walk through Rogaška Slatina, you have the impression that you are in continental Opatija. There are many buildings built for the elite of the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and it is especially grandiose, as its name suggests. Grand Hotel Rogaška, but there are plenty of such buildings there. When you are in Rogaška, you should also visit the museum Anna's court. He has six collections - glass, graphic, domestic, signature collection, park collection and of course water collection. IN Medical Center Rogaška we relaxed in wellness programs and drank Donat in a room called A pub practically straight from the source, as well as its milder mineralized version which is named styria. The donut is offered in two versions - warm and cold. The first is recommended before lunch, and the second before dinner.

Kaiser Rogaška Slatina
Photo: Nikola Zoko

A cold Donat was very pleasant before dinner at to the Kaiser restaurant, and along with a delicious appetizer, an intriguing dessert and an impressive tuna steak, which was the central course, the wines served were also very pleasant, starting with the house sparkling wine called "Sisi", through Sauvignon to Frankovka. We continued with getting to know the local wines after dinner at Kaiser on Pomona. Gora pod Lipo is located about thirty kilometers north of Pomona and we tasted their white coupage Ritose sweat, as well as the "red bomb" Gora classic and all this under the braids next to the country estate. After we started the day in the morning with the classic viljamovka, we ended it with a version of viljamovka in which there are also pieces of dried pears. Absolutely fantastic!

Pomona Rogaš Slatina
Photo: Nikola Zoko

After the evening climb to Pomona's lookout point and a short sleep, we had the whole day to tour this imposing property and spend the day there. The wooden walkway leads us past the treetops and below are the trees Karst Poles - members of the only Slovenian autochthonous breed of pigs that carefree bilge beneath us. The high-altitude educational trail passes by 17 types of trees. Along the way, we also pass a vending machine where you just need to insert a euro to get a bowl of pellets that you can feed the pigs. The surprises never end because we reach aquaponic greenhouse, where carp, sturgeon and albino belugas are bred. On the property there is also biopool with deckchairs made from old beehives.

Pomona
Photo: Nikola Zoko

Ultimately, we end up again at the viewpoint; with music and champagne Camel foam hours pass like minutes, and the only thing a man wishes at that moment is to never go down. The only thing that could have brought us down was the invitation to lunch, and everything served for lunch was simply superb; from spring onion soup onwards. All praise for Janko's vision, and the will and effort with which he realized it and is still constantly upgrading it.

Pomona
Photo: Nikola Zoko

A two-day stay in Rogaška Slatina is a perfectly balanced hedonistic-educational experience in which the urban harmoniously combines with the rural, active vacation with leisure and classic enjoyment of enogastronomy with health tourism. If we take into account that there, for the first time in my life, I saw how a crystal glass is made by hand, then I can say without hesitation that I experienced something unique there. Visit Rogaška Slatina and enjoy its charms yourself.

LAST RELEASES

Sign up for our newsletter

A weekly dose of the best tourist stories. The newsletter gives you an insight into the most important events and topics that were written about on the turistickeprice.hr portal

Your e-mail address will be safely stored and used only for the purpose of the site turistickeprice.hr and will not be forwarded to third parties.