At Hudinja, an area settled with castles

The Hudinja River winds its way from the southern slopes of Pohorje soutward through the scenic Socka gorge. Extending out from both of its banks are low, rolling hills bordering the Celje basin on the north side.

The Dobrnica stream, a tributary of the area, flows out of a small valley below Paški Kozjak. A short distance above the confluence is the village of Strmec. South of the area and already a part of the Celje basin is Vojnik, which obtained market rights as early as in 1306.

Here the road branches off to the northeast and runs through Frankolovo, behind Konjiška gora with its highest peak, Stolpnik (1012m), and past the village of Stranjice to Slovenske Konjice.The valley between Konjiška gora and Stenica (1091m) on the north was once an important passage guarded by the castle in Frankolovo and the Linden Castle, whose ruins lie near the summit of Stenica.

In the Dobrnica valley near the village of Lemberg close to Strmca stands Lemberg Castle. A little higher up the valley is Dobrna. The healing qualities of its thermal springs were already known to the Romans. Written sources mention the spa as early as in 1428, but tourism only began to develop in 1612.

Above the health spa are the remains of Kačnik Castle, and a more recent castle stands in the village of Dobrna. Half a kilometer upward along the valley is the Guttenegg Castle (also called Dobrnica Castle).

The area between the Celje basin and Dobrna is countryside of rolling hills. Nestled in a shallow valley in the midst of hills between Šmartno in Rožna dolina (valley) and Vojnik hill is Šmartinsko jezero, a fairly large lake with a curving shoreline whose total length exceeds 8 kilometers.

Incredible is it not? What do you think? Contact us and give us your opinion. But do not forget to check out other areas in Slovenia. There is the capital Ljubljana, Bled Lake and Bled Castle, Bohinj Lake, Kranjska Gora, Postojna Cave and the Adriatic Sea with Portorož, Piran, Izola, Koper and many more.

From Hudinja back to the Savinja-Sotla Region