Tourist Atractions

Manor houses

Admont Manor is located along the busy Maribor-Radenci road, near Špital. Since the 17th century, the Benedictine monastery of Admont in Styria has had vineyards in the area of Ljutomerske and Radgonske hills. In 1778, Abbot Mätthaus Offner purchased a house on today’s Partizanska Street, which had previously belonged to the Jesuit Order, along with vineyards in Murščak, Rožiček Hill, and Kocjan Hill. The year 1781 on the stone portal frame dates from the time of Abbot Kolumban von Wieland, whose coat of arms is also on a preserved wooden door leaf displayed in Špital. Until the 1930s, Admont Manor housed the administration of the vineyards of the Salzburg Diocese in this part of Styria.

Schachenturn Manor was the seat of a large regional princely estate. Its creation and construction are dated to 1466 when Stefan Schak was the steward of the princely office, after whom the manor was named – Schachenamt and later Schachenturn. It was a shooting manor, common in the region. From around 1525, it was in various leases, and from around 1730, it was owned by the Wildenstein family, followed by various owners after 1817, including the Counts of Fünfkirchen during the world wars. During the time of the Austrian Empire, soldiers of the 97th Infantry Regiment, from Slovenian Primorska and Istria, served here. They were trained and equipped for the front, with shooting practice held in the forest clearing above Lomanoš. After World War II, the manor became state property and was used as a barracks for border guards, remaining unoccupied after 1991.

Rotenturm is located close to the castle hill and the path that once represented the only access to the castle. The current L-shaped appearance of the building is the result of two main construction phases: Renaissance in the 17th century and Baroque in the 18th century. The older, shorter, and wider Renaissance section from the 17th century was extended in the 18th century with a narrower and longer Baroque addition. Both sections contain several high-quality architectural details, such as rich Baroque stucco frames on the first floor of both sections, extremely high-quality Baroque doorframes and doors preserved in the chapel, Baroque profiling in the chapel, wrought-iron Baroque light fittings, two stone portals leading to the ground floor, and Baroque doors on the staircase and the upper floor of the longer section. The southern section had a wooden tower with a metal onion-shaped roof until 2002. The manor was built by the Counts of Eggenberg in the 17th century and later came into the possession of the Clarissan Order from Graz, and later the Sankt Lambrecht Order. Subsequently, it was owned by the Counts of Herberstein and Wurmbrandt, followed by the Deller, Zorzini, and Vargazen families.

Kunej Manor stands in the middle of an extensive garden. The Kunej family garden was designed as an architectural garden between 1935 and 1936 by garden architect Ilse Fischerauer. Most of the trees, shrubs, and perennials are from the original design. The single-story manor house has a covered ground-floor “loggia” extending north. It is surrounded by tall trees and, on the southern side, a well-maintained park layout. In the third axis, there is a classicist stone portal with the Giesel family coat of arms at the top. The ground-floor windows are protected by wrought iron grilles. The cellar features barrel and vault arches. The house, originally built in the 15th century and remodeled in the 17th century, appears today as it did in the first half of the 19th century. Sources indicate that a manor existed at this site as early as the 15th century. Between 1688 and 1802, it was owned by the Leslie family, descendants of Scottish mercenary officers, and then by the Giesel family until 1918. Kunej Manor with its garden is one of the best-preserved private gardens in Slovenia in the architectural style.