In a park within the flatland between Petrovče and Žalec lies the Novo Celje mansion, which represents the peak of late Baroque art in Slovenia. In the 1970s, Novo Celje and its surroundings was the place where the modern hop growing started. At that time, the Salm princes, the owners of the Novo Celje mansion, started considering how to improve the revenue generated by their property. They called Jurij Peter Hörnes, a Bavarian hop grower from Herschberg at the Bodensee, who taught the mansion’s gardener and caretaker, Josip Bilger, all the secrets of the new agrarian culture. The latter successfully established his first plantation of the Württemberg hops and made a foundation for the agricultural activity that has had a significant impact on the the Lower Savinja Valley to this day.
The Eco-Museum of Hop-Growing and Brewing Industry in Slovenia is located in an old renovated hop-drying facility and uncovers the history of hop growing and the brewing industry in Slovenia. The house beer, named after the father of the Slovene brewing industry, Simon Kukec, and a delicious croissant will arouse your imagination. You might even hear the singing of a thousand hop pickers and smell freshly picked hops.
At the end of the tour you can taste the house beer or hop growers’ tea and have a delicious croissant.
A walk to the Savinjski hram shop. The shop at the rural market offers local produce from the farms of the Lower Savinja Valley, joined under the trademark Zeleno zlato (Green Gold). Produce is available for purchase.
In the Lower Savinja Valley there are about one hundred small and large hop-growing farms. A tour of a hop-growing farm and tasting.
Information Programme includes:
• A guided tour,
• A tour of the Novo Celje mansion, a tour of the Eco-Museum of Hop-Growing and Brewing Industry in Slovenia, a tour of a hop-growing farm,
• 2dl of the house beer Kukec – Savinjsko pivo or a cup of hop growers’ tea and a Zeleno zlato croissant in the Eco-Museum of Hop-Growing and Brewing Industry in Slovenia. Dry meat and cheese platter for groups, with a glass of apple juice or beer per person.
Price per person: 13,90 €
Minimum number of persons: 15 persons
Programme duration: approximately 5 hours
TIC Žalec, T: ++386 3 710 04 34, E: tic@zkst-zalec.si