East – Pomurje
Photo: Pomurska turistična zveza
Pomurje
A different Slovenia In the northeast of Slovenia you enter a different world. There is flatland here, surrounded by green rounded hills. Welcome to the dreamy Pomurje, a land of storks, vineyards, healing waters and energy points, wind-rattles, floating mills, original traditions and dialects. Pomurje is part of the Pannonian plain. Slovenians call the countryside flat which is hard to imagine if you are from, let’s say, the Netherlands or Belgium or any other country that doesn’t have high mountains. Pomurje has endless rows of, Tuscany like, green rounded hills that are covered in vineyards, but it lacks real mountains that are always present in the rest of Slovenia. In Pomurje you can see the horizon, instead of another mountain in the distance.
A touch of the country life Between the Pomurje hills are wide fields where farmers grow crops. The region is Slovenia’s food barn. It’s the largest agricultural region of the country. For a touch of the Pomurje country life and a taste of the local dishes, you can stay at one of the dozens of farmers who started a tourist farm.
More to offer Pomurje is probably most known for its thermal health resorts; Terme Radenci, Photo: Center za zdravje in razvoj Murska Sobota / Aleš Fevžar
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The Slovenia Times | Summer guide 2013
Terme Lendava, Terme Banovci, Terme 3000, Terme Vivat and Bioterme Mala Nedelja. There is much more to offer though. The region is excellent for a bike ride. The roads are quiet and the variety of flat and hilly countryside offers routes for any type of cyclist. Other activities are horseback riding, hiking, golf, hot air balloon flights and on the Gajševsko lake it’s even possible to surf. And don’t forget the Mura, the river along which Pomurje is situated. Here you will find floating mills and wooden ferries with which you can cross from the west side (Prlekija) to the east (Prekmurje).
The 365 rooms of Castle Grad Pomurje is home to Slovenia’s largest castle, Grad in Goričko. The triangular castle is from at least the 11th century. It has as many Photo: Pomurska turistična zveza
Photo: Bojan Kar
rooms as there are days in a year (365). Legend has it that the Knights Templar built the castle as a temporary residence. Later Hungarian lords owned the castle. In the castle should live a dragon with a golden crown and the ground under the castle releases energy.
The other Jerus(z)alem Was it the view on the green rolling hills that stretched till the horizon or was it all the wine made from the vineyards? In the 11th century something must have sparked crusaders to name a settlement in Pomurje Jeruzalem. As the story goes, the crusaders where going to the real Jerusalem in present day Israel. But when they arrived on a picturesque hill in Pomurje, they never left again. They named the settlement Jeruzalem and the hills that surrounded it were named after apostles.