Pišece
Pišece is situated on the southern sun-drenched foothills of the forested Orlica. The village centre is along the village road, below St. Michael’s Church, a Baroque building dating from the end of the 18th century.
The village centre includes an old school and a blacksmith’s museum, and a younger, restored mill by the Gabernica stream.
Pišece Castle, built by the Archbishopric of Salzburg and first mentioned in written records in the early 14th century, stands on a hill 352 metres above sea level to the north-west of the village. Today, the castle has a neo-Romanesque appearance and is surrounded by a beautiful English park. The park is characterised by a pond and a 50-metre-tall sequoia, as well as many other non-native trees, such as plane, catalpa, ginkgo, and honey locust.
In Pišece, you can also visit the Pleteršnik homestead, where the Slovenian linguist and author of the Slovenian-German Dictionary, Maks Pleteršnik, was born in 1840 and died in 1923. There is a memorial collection arranged in his birthplace.
Pišece is also known for the only surviving indigenous Slovenian apricot variety, the “Pišece apricot”.
You can also walk to Pišece Castle along the footpath that leads from the centre of Pišece, past the Pleteršnik homestead, the lower pond, and through the park to the castle. The first water educational trail in Slovenia, 17km long, starts at the source of the Gabernica stream in Pišece and runs all the way to the mouth of the stream at the Sava River.
More information: http://www.td-pisece.si/ and www.pisece.si
Location
Explore other cultural attractions in Kozjansko Regional Park:
The medieval Podsreda market town developed under the eponymous Podsreda Castle and is situated on the right bank of the Bistrica River, along the regional road connecting Kozje and Bistrica ob Sotli. With its position, it belongs to the few areas with an extraordinary cultural landscape.
The Stations of the Cross from Podsreda lead to the Church of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows on Stare gore above Podsreda, or the “Nearby Mountains” as they are popularly called.
The Javeršek homestead (Podsreda 93) is located about half a kilometre from the road connecting Podsreda and Bistrica ob Sotli. It is a secluded farm, which was given the name “v Loki” because of its location.
Kolar’s homestead is located in Trebče, next to a pond by the Podsreda–Bistrica ob Sotli road.
Svete gore is an ancient cult and pilgrimage centre on the hill of the same name above Bistrica ob Sotli (Zagaj).
At the top of the hill, at an altitude of 527m, there are five religious buildings.
On the right bank of the Bistrica River, just off the main Podsreda–Kozje road, is one of the few remaining working mills from the mid-19th century. The Kukovičič mill (Podsreda 3a), today restored, is an ethnological cultural monument.
Kozje is one of our oldest market towns, and the region in the central part of which it is located is named after it.
Pilštanj, situated on a low ridge above the village of Lesično, has one of the most picturesque views over the Bistrica valley and is today a cultural monument.