ZAGORJE

The experience gets even more complete if we engage in exploration of Zagorje’s wine roads, interwoven in Zagorje’s wine shops, which make a kind of net – along with vineyards – all over the Zagorje hills. The cellars of wine shops keep excellent and exquisite wine, a decent rival that wins first medals at world wine fairs and competitions. To the people, tired of urban stress, Zagorje wine shops and tourist villages will heal both body and soul, offering – at the same time – enjoyment in delights of the local cuisine blended with sounds, colors and smells of nature.

Zagorje could not be called fairy tale when it would not have much to offer to the palates eager of flavors and aromas of the traditional and local cuisine. A handful of exquisite Zagorje specialties – from Zagorje turkey with ‘’mlinci’’ (dumplings) up to ‘’bučnica’’ (squash cottage cheese strudel) and ‘’zlevanka’’ (sweet cornbread) as well as delicacies from the bread oven, offered by the restaurants and numerous rural households – leave us indelible memories of flavors and aromas we can enjoy in this region.

One should return many times to Zagorje, because it has the highest concentration of cultural, architectural and cultural heritage in this part of Europe. One must visit the medieval burgs like Veliki Tabor, unique in Europe, whose walls still keep the legend about the love of Veronika Desinička and its unfortunate end. Moreover, the guests of the manors such as the Mihanović and Oršić castles or the baroque-classicist castles like Bežanec and Miljana castles can experience profoundly the spirit of that time. These priceless buildings keep remarkable cultural collections and exhibits, such as Stubički Golubovec that keeps 600,000 volumes of the written and printed word collections in the local ‘’kajkavski’’ dialect. The old fortified cities like Konjščina, Kostel, Belec or Cesargrad are just some of the many historical monuments of the late Middle Ages.

The sanctuary in Marija Bistrica is the largest Marian shrine. Experiencing the spiritual energy during the pilgrimage that takes place at the Assumption Day represents a first-class experience that thousands of pilgrims do not miss for many decades now. Thanks to numerous churches that adorn all the Zagorje hills, the sightseeing tour of the same enriches the tourist offer to both modern travelers and explorers of cultural and religious heritage.