Ptuj (; , ; ) is the eighth-largest town of

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, located in the traditional region of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

(northeastern

). It is the seat of the Municipality of Ptuj. Being the oldest recorded city in Slovenia, it has been inhabited since the late Stone Age and developed from a Roman military fort, located at a strategically important crossing of the

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

River along a prehistoric trade route between the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

and the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

History

Early history

Ptuj is the oldest recorded town in Slovenia. There is evidence that the area was settled in the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

. In the Late

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

it was settled by

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

.''PtujTourism.si''.
The History of Ptuj
. Accessed November 8, 2006.

First mentions

By the 1st century BC, the settlement was controlled by

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

as part of the

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

n province. In 69 AD,

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

was elected Roman Emperor by the Danubian legions in Ptuj, and the first written mention of the city of Ptuj is from the same year. ''Poetovium'' was the base-camp of Legio XIII ''Gemina'' where it had its legionary fortress or ''

castrum ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

''. The name originated in the times of Emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

, who granted the settlement city status and named it ''Colonia Ulpia Traiana Poetovio'' in 103. The patristic writer Victorinus was Bishop of Poetovio before his martyrdom in 303 or 304. The Caesar

Constantius Gallus Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus (326 – 354) was a statesman and ruler in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire from 351 to 354, as Caesar (title), ''Caesar'' under emperor Constantius II (), his cousin. A grandson of emperor Constantius ...

was divested of his imperial robe and arrested in Poetovio before his subsequent execution in Pola (354) (Amm.Marc. Hist. XIV) The

battle of Poetovio The Battle of Poetovio was fought in 388 between the forces of Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus and the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius I. Magnus Maximus's army was defeated and Maximus was later captured and executed at Aquileia. Back ...

in 388 saw

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene C ...

's victory over the usurper, Maximus. The city had 40,000 inhabitants until it was plundered by the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

in 450.

Middle Ages

In 570 the city was occupied by Eurasian Avars and

Slavic tribes This is a list of early Slavic peoples reported in Late Antiquity and in the Middle Ages, that is, before the year AD 1500. Ancestors *Proto-Indo-Europeans (Proto-Indo-European speakers) ** Proto-Balto-Slavs (common ancestors of Balts and Slav ...

. Ptuj became part of the

Frankish Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lomba ...

after the fall of the Avar state at the end of 8th century. Between 840 and 874 it belonged to the Slavic

Balaton Principality Early Slavs settled in the eastern and southern parts of the former Roman province of Pannonia. The term ''Lower Pannonia'', was used to designate those areas of the Pannonian Plain that lie to the east and south of the river Rába, with the d ...

Pribina Pribina (c. 800861) was a Slavs, Slavic prince whose adventurous career, recorded in the ''Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum, Conversion of the Bavarians and the Carantanians'' (a historical work written in 870), illustrates the political ...

and

Kocel Kocel ( 861–876) was a ruler of the Principality of Lower Pannonia. He was an East Frankish vassal titled ''comes'' (count), and is believed to have ruled between 861 or 864 and 876 from Mosapurc, also known in Old-Slavonic as ''Blatnograd'' ( ...

j. Between 874 and 890 Ptuj gradually came under the influence of the

Archbishopric of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (; ) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of Salzburg, as distinguished from the much larger Catholic diocese f ...

which had both spiritual and temporal rule over the town;

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

passed in 1376 began an economic upswing for the settlement.

Habsburg Monarchy and Austria-Hungary

After the re-establishment of the Habsburg rule in 1490, following

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

's conquests, the Archbishop of Salzburg was stripped of the remaining temporal authority over the town and the surrounding areas; Ptuj (known in German as Pettau) was officially incorporated into the

Duchy of Styria The Duchy of Styria (; ; ) was a duchy located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806 and a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary until its dissolution i ...

in 1555. Pettau was a battleground during the

Ottoman wars in Europe A series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states took place from the Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, waged in Anatolia in ...

and suffered from fires in 1684, 1705, 1710, and 1744. Its population and importance began to decline in the 19th century, however, after the completion of the

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

route of the

Austrian Southern Railway The Austrian Southern Railway () is a long double track railway, which linked the capital Vienna with Trieste, the former main seaport of Austria-Hungary, by railway for the first time. It now forms the Southern Railway in Austria and the Spi ...

, as the line went through Marburg (Maribor) instead. According to the 1910 Austro-Hungarian census, 86% of the population of Pettau's Old Town was

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-speaking, while the population of the surrounding villages predominantly spoke Slovenian. After the collapse of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

at the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Pettau was included in the short-lived

Republic of German Austria The Republic of German-Austria (, alternatively spelt ), commonly known as German-Austria (), was an unrecognised state that was created following World War I as an initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking and ethn ...

Establishment of Yugoslavia

After the military intervention of the Slovenian general

Rudolf Maister Rudolf Maister (pen name: Vojanov; 29 March 1874 – 26 July 1934) was a Slovene officer (armed forces), military officer, poet and activism, political activist. The soldiers who fought under Maister's command in northern Slovenia became k ...

, the entire territory of

Lower Styria Styria (, ), also known as Slovenian Styria (; ) or Lower Styria (; ) to differentiate it from Austrian Styria, is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of St ...

was included into the

State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs ( / ; ) was a political entity that was constituted in October 1918, at the end of World War I, by Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (Prečani (Serbs), Prečani) residing in what were the southernmost parts of th ...

(

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

). During the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, the number and the percentage of those identifying as

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

in the city, which was renamed Ptuj, decreased rapidly, although a relatively strong

ethnic German Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The constitution of Germany, implemented in 1949 following the end of World War ...

minority remained.

World War II

After the

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...

in April 1941, Ptuj was occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. From 1941 to 1944 the town's Slovenian population was dispossessed and deported. Their homes were taken over by German speakers from

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

and

Gottschee County Gottschee (, ) refers to a former German-speaking region in Carniola, a crownland of the Habsburg Empire, part of the historical and traditional region of Lower Carniola, now in Slovenia. The region has been a county, duchy, district, and municip ...

, who had themselves been evicted according to an agreement between

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

. These German immigrants, along with the native German ''Pettauer'', were expelled to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in 1945; many later settled in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Since 1945, Ptuj has been populated almost completely by

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, and History of Slove ...

Culture

The Kurent or Korant Carnival

Ptuj is the center place of a ten-day-long

carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

in the spring, an ancient Slavic pagan rite of spring and fertility, called

Kurentovanje Kurentovanje is Slovenia's most popular and ethnologically significant carnival event first organised in 1960 by Drago Hasl and his associates from cultural and educational organizations. This 11-day rite of spring and fertility highlight event ...

or Korantovanje. Kurent is believed to be the name of an ancient god of

hedonism Hedonism is a family of Philosophy, philosophical views that prioritize pleasure. Psychological hedonism is the theory that all human behavior is Motivation, motivated by the desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. As a form of Psycholo ...

- the Slavic counterpart of the Greek god Priapos, although there are no written records. Kurent or Korant is a figure dressed in sheep skin who goes about the town wearing a mask, a long red tongue, cowbells, and multi-colored ribbons on its head. The Kurent(s) from Ptuj and the adjoining villages also wear feathers, while those from the

Haloze Haloze () is a geographical sub-region of Slovenia. It is in the northeast of the country, in the Styria region. General characteristics Haloze is a hilly area, running roughly east–west bounded by the border with Croatia to the south and the ...

and

Lancova Vas Lancova Vas (; ) is a settlement on the left bank of the Polskava River in the Municipality of Videm in eastern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. It is now included in the Drava Statistical Region. History In 1989, ...

wear horns. Organized in groups, Kurents go through town, from house to house, making noise with their bells and wooden sticks, to symbolically scare off evil spirits and the winter.

Landmarks

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

in the settlement is dedicated to

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

and belongs to the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor The Archdiocese of Maribor (, ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Slovenia. Its episcopal see is Maribor. History * 1859 : Maribor (then Marburg) became the see of the Diocese of Lavant * ...

. It is a three-naved

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

building from the 13th and early 14th century, but the structure incorporates parts of a much earlier structure, dating to the mid-9th century. *

Ptuj Castle Ptuj Castle () is a castle in Ptuj, Slovenia. It stands on a hill alongside the Drava River overlooking the town, and it is a prominent landmark. History The castle was built in the mid-12th century, when it was constructed to defend against the ...

* St. George's Church *

Little Castle Little Castle () in Kamnik, Slovenia, once formed part of a castle constructed in the 11th or early 12th century at the strategic site above the narrow passage near an important trail. The Romanesque architecture, Romanesque chapel of St. Eligi ...

* Ptuj Town Hall * Ptuj Town Theatre * Town Tower * Dominican monastery * Orpheus Monument * Franciscan monastery *

Upper Mansion Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found fo ...

* St. Oswald's Church

Town quarters

* Center * Breg–Turnišče * Ljudski Vrt * Jezero * Panorama * Rogoznica * Grajena *

Spuhlja Spuhlja (, in older sources ''Spuhla'', ) is a settlement in the Municipality of Ptuj in northeastern Slovenia. It lies east of the town of Ptuj, just north of Lake Ptuj (a reservoir on the Drava, Drava River). The area is part of the traditional r ...

Notable people

Brigita Brezovac Brigita Brezovac (September 24, 1979) is a retired Slovenian professional bodybuilder. Early life and education Brezovac grew up in Ljutomer, Slovenia. She attended the SETUAŠ school in Murska Sobota, Slovenia, and the University of Maribor ...

(born 1979), bodybuilder *

Nastja Čeh Nastja Čeh (born 26 January 1978) is a Slovenian retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Čeh started his career with his hometown club Drava Ptuj. By the age of 17 he was playing in the first team in the 2. S ...

(born 1978), Slovenian international footballer * (born 1977), geopolitical analyst and expert of international relations * Tim Gajser (born 1996), motocross racer * Luigi Kasimir (1881−1962), artist *

Benka Pulko Benka Pulko (born 15 May 1967) is a Slovenian world traveler, Guinness World Record holder, author and photographer. Between 1997 and 2002, she embarked on a motorcycle trip across all seven continents, achieving multiple world records and firsts. ...

(born 1967), long-distance motorcycle traveler, writer, photographer, humanitarian and Guinness World Record holder *

Miha Remec Miha Remec IPA mˈiha ɹeːmet͡s] (born August 10, 1928 in Ptuj, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (now Slovenia), died 2020) was a Slovenes, Slovene author known for his science fiction works. He was a two-time winner of the SFERA Award. N ...

(1920−2020), science fiction author * Angela Salloker (1913−2006), actress *

Aljaž Skorjanec Aljaž may refer to *Aljaž (name) *Aljaž Lodge in the Vrata Valley, a mountain hut in Slovenia *Aljaž Tower Aljaž Tower () or the Triglav Tower () is a tower, a storm shelter and a triangulation point on the summit of Mount Triglav in northwes ...

(born 1990), dancer and choreographer * Viktor Skrabar (1877–1938), lawyer and archaeologist * Aleš Šteger (born 1973), poet *

Victorinus of Pettau Saint Victorinus of Pettau (also Ptuj or Poetovio; Greek: Βικτωρίνος Πεταβίου; died 303 or 304) was an Early Christian ecclesiastical writer who flourished about 270, and who was martyred during the persecutions of Emperor Dioc ...

(died 303), bishop and martyr *

Dejan Zavec Dejan Zavec (born 13 March 1976), best known as Jan Zaveck, is a Slovenian former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2015. He held the IBF welterweight title from 2009 to 2011, and challenged once for the WBA super-welterweight title ...

(born 1976), boxer

Sister cities

Ptuj is twinned with: *

Aranđelovac Aranđelovac ( sr-cyr, Аранђеловац, ) is a town and a municipality located in the Šumadija District of central Serbia. , the municipality has a population of 41,297 inhabitants, while the town has 22,881 inhabitants. It is situated ben ...

, Serbia *

Banská Štiavnica Banská Štiavnica (; ; , ) is a town in central Slovakia, in the middle of an immense caldera created by the collapse of an ancient volcano. For its size, the caldera is known as the Štiavnica Mountains. Banská Štiavnica has a population of ...

, Slovakia (2002) * Burghausen, Germany (2001) *

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

, North Macedonia (2006) *

Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire (, literally ''Saint-Cyr on Loire'') is a Communes of France, commune in the department of Indre-et-Loire in central France. It is located northwest of Tours on the other side of the Loire. It is the third largest city in the ...

, France (1998) *

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

, Croatia (2004)

Gallery

File:Ptuj Castle Ouroboros 27102006 01.jpg,

Ouroboros The ouroboros or uroboros (; ) is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent symbolism, snake or European dragon, dragon Autocannibalism, eating its own tail. The ouroboros entered Western tradition via Egyptian mythology, ancient Egyptian iconogra ...

at Ptuj Castle File:Ptuj from the castle.JPG, Seen from the castle File:Ptuj Castle inside.JPG,

File:Ptuj3.jpg, A street in the center of Ptuj File:Ptuj panorama 01.jpg, Panoramic view from

File:Ptuj panorama 02.jpg, Panoramic view of Ptuj File:Ptuj_-_Orfejev_spomenik_1.jpg, Orpheus Monument at Slovene Square

References

External links

*
Ptuj
on Geopedia
ptuj.info
(Tourism website) {{Authority control Cities and towns in Styria (Slovenia) Populated places in the Urban Municipality of Ptuj Spa towns in Slovenia