You know how the 17th century was … the Recatholisation that began after the Protestant upheaval of mid-16th century slowly backed off its peak hysteria and became somewhat complacent. But the coffers of the church and wealthy aristocracy were still quite full, and people were using stories of apparitions and miracles to drive resources to … Read more
The vast Ljubljana Marshes, a 163 square kilometers of flat, marshy land south of Ljubljana, are a strangely beautiful place, rich in biodiversity, geology, prehistory and history. The black soil of Ljubljana Marhses . The basin of the Marshes formed at the end of Lower Pleistocene (~800.000 years ago) by a collapse along two still … Read more
Inspired by fantastic aerial archaeology work by dr. John Wells (who uses kites for flying the cameras!), with last summer’s discoveries at Newgrange, and with our own chance find at castle Kalec, we went searching for more ancient remains that can be seen only from the air. The Ministry of Culture of Slovenia maintains a … Read more
Et in Arcadia ego … Baroque style – fodder for the masses, as the poet wrote – was both flamboyant and organized; countering the austere and sombre Reformation and celebrating the power of humans over Nature. While sacral Baroque architecture and art went berserk soon – losing itself in excesses of the Rococco – houses, … Read more
Vast, deep forests of Zaplana plateau, some 30 km southwest of Ljubljana, are a mysterious place. A place where dragons live – and are born. So where better to fly a kite – incidentally, the Slovene word for kite, zmaj means dragon (as it does in many other languages) – than here! Do dragons really … Read more
Ljubljana Old Town in all its medieval glory … This kite aerial view of Stari (Old), Gornji (Upper) and Levstik Squares, and Rožna (Flower) street encompasses the heart of Ljubljana’s Old Town, the centre of the medieval settlement that begun in around year 1000, was first mentioned in Nomina defunctorum parchment between 1112 and 1125 … Read more
In the middle of the fertile plain below Ptujska Gora, south of river Drava, stands a group of burial mounds or barrows. They date to the 7th and 6th century BCE – Early Iron Age – and are a part of a wider Lower Styrian Hallstatt culture. The burial complex as seen from a kite. … Read more
In the south of Drava plain the land rises from the rich fields to the hills called Haloze. This is a poor, underdeveloped region of Slovenia, but one can find two treasures here: the people, and the fascinating Minor basilica of St. Mary the Protectress at Ptujska Gora. Built at the end of 14th century … Read more
In our last post we showed you Ormož Basins Nature Reserve, an extremely important bird sanctuary that was created on the former wastewater disposal pools of Tovarna Sladkorja Ormož (TSO; Ormož Sugar Factory). Now we’d like to show you the former factory itself. Ormož Sugar Factory today, with “Ormož Sea” – a hydroepower reservoir on … Read more
A rare – and sweet – story of a fruitful cooperation of nature conservationists and heavy industry. The fertile fields of Prlekija by the river Drava are perfect for growing sugar beet, so a sugar factory was built in Ormož in 1979. The processing of sugar beets into sugar requires special wastewater disposal pools (those … Read more