Forest Educational Path at Pister Castle
Region | Carinthia Statistical Region |
Starting point | Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary parking lot / Vuzenica Medical Centre parking lot |
Route length | 4 km (2.85 miles) |
route duration | 1-2 h |
Best time to visit | spring, summer, early autumn |
Appropriate for | Baby Carriers , 3-6 years of age , 6+ years of age |
Level of difficulty | Moderately demanding route |
Route Description
Vuzenica Castle (German “Saldenhofen”) or Pister Castle (named after its last owner) is located on a hill above the village of Vuzenica. Only the renaissance single-storey defensive tower and the modest remains of the walls above the cliff stand above the ruins today. The unusual tower is built of a of stone and brick mixture, the floor surface has a trapezoidal shape, and the outside wall facing a potential enemy has strongly rounded edges.
There are a few key-shaped firing lines on the ground floor, and wide renaissance-ones on the first floor. More and more holes are penetrating the roof. The tower was bursting with life more than a decade ago, but now it has almost no roof, the inner two walls are completely ruined, as well as the renaissance bifora-type window on the outer wall, which was preserved a decade ago.
The castle has a rich history of being passed down among various nobles. The last owner of the decaying castle was Oskar von Pistor, a painter and portraitist. Until 1972, it was in the hands of the family of Otokar Pistor, son of Oskar Pistor, an academic painter who married a local woman named Ana Verdnik.
There are several trails leading up to the castle. One of them is the circular educational path, which is about 3 kilometres (1.15 miles) long and rewards you with numerous views over the villages of Muta and Vuzenica, and the beautiful Drava River. You will pass by the interesting Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Slomšek Chapel and many information boards.
Interesting Facts
In the period from 1838 to 1844, the now beatified Anton Martin Slomšek was priest of the Vuzenica arch-parish. This is where he wrote his educational manual Blaže and Nežica in Sunday School and restored the church and parish. He worked hard for the Slovenian language to be introduced into schools.
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Koroška hiša pri Lipi
Feel the authentic Carinthian cuisine right here and lick your fingers while tasting the almost forgotten traditionally prepared dishes. Do “kibelflajš” or “mežerli” sound familiar to you by any chance? You will definitely want to find out what these dishes are and even return to this nicely furnished and fragrant inn. Here, you can even stay the night in small authentic Carinthian rooms, called “štibelci”.
Mariborska cesta 12
2366 Muta
+386 (0)41 722 091
info@prilipi.si
Mila and Staš Recommend
After such an ascent, it feels good to cool off in the Radlje ob Dravi Water Park, and swim in the water cleaned by microorganisms instead of chemicals. Sounds fun, does it not? ☺
Children, listen to the story!
An old legend talks about lake near place Radlje ob Dravi-Ribniško jezero, where the Merman (“Jezernik”) lives. He allegedly moved to the lake from Mount St. Ursula (Uršlja gora) when the bells from a newly built church drove him away because they disturbed his peace.