Set amidst the hills of the Kozjansko region, Podsreda Castle is one of the best-preserved Romanesque fortresses in Slovenia. It looks pretty much the way it did when it was built in the mid-12th century, thanks to renovations completed in 2015.
A rough, winding 5km-long road leads to the castle, but you can also reach it via a relatively steep 2km footpath from the village of Podsreda.
A barbican on the south side, with walls 3m thick and a medieval kitchen, leads to a central courtyard with a sgraffito of a knight and angels on the east side, and a dungeon hidden beneath a staircase.
The rooms in the castle wings, some with beamed ceilings and ancient chandeliers, now contain a glassworks exhibit (crystal from Rogaška Slatina, vials from the Olimje pharmacy, green and blue Pohorje glass). The fabulous wood-panelled Renaissance Hall hosts classical concerts and, of course, weddings. In the room next to it is a wonderful collection of prints of Štajerska’s castles and monasteries taken from Topographii Ducatus Stiria (1681) by Georg Mattäus Vischer (1628–96). There are exhibition spaces of art and photographs in the east and north wings. The tiny Romanesque chapel is above the courtyard to the southeast.