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Polhov Gradec

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Polhov Gradec is picturesque village in the Polhograjsko hribovje hills in Central Slovenia – in the link you can check out the terms of the actual contest of Visit Ljubljana, you can win a nice prize just posting nice photos!

The main landmark and photo spot of the village is the new castle (remains of the old one can be seen on the Kalvarija hill), designed in 17th century.

The mansion is surrounded by a beautiful park.

Here is also a local museum’s permanent collection with objects related to the history of Polhov Gradec and the Technical Museum of Slovenia – Museum of Post and Telecommunications. A well with the statue of Neptun and four nymphs stands by the castle.

There is a creek behind the mansion and a nice view of the building from the back.

The best view of the village itself is from the small hill just a few steps from the main road.

The mansion is visible from this spot as well.

Somehow limited photo options of the village are greatly enhanced by the number of fantastic views in the vicinity of the Polhov Gradec. Many churches are located on the slopes and peaks of the surrounding hills which provides for great photo motifs. Reaching St. Ursula can be a pleasant short hike from the nearby touristic farm reached by car or a longer one from the valley.

A trip to the village of Črni vrh takes some more time but ii is worth the effort.

Enjoy!

 

Črni vrh above Polhov Gradec

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Črni Vrh (Black Peak) is a dispersed settlement in the hills northwest of Polhov Gradec in Central Slovenia which includes many isolated farms scattered throughout the hills so the settlement itself is not a micro location in a sense we are looking for. We have picked it out because again there is one of the many small churches on the slopes and peaks of the hills around Polhov Gradec in Central Slovenia which provide for some fabulous photo motifs.

The parish church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Leonard and t stands west of the settlement on Church Hill (Cerkovni grič). There is a point on the slope across the Church Hill where the best view of the hills and the church can be observed and photographed.

The photo point in located at the crossroads to Poljanska dolina and Pasja ravan – the exact location you can find on the map Where to in Slovenia. We visited it at the sunrise.

A few days later we passed by there in the late afternoon as well.

It was a pretty magical morning there; the settlement is pretty high in the hills, farms are far apart from each other, no traffic at all.

The sights on the other side of the street were also pretty nice but one should wait a bit longer for haze to clear and get a better photo of the mighty Mt. Triglav in Julian Alps and Škofja Loka Hills in the foreground. We are not proud of the following two photos photo but added them it for you to get the idea.

This is how the crossroad looks like.

A closer look at the foot of the Church Hill to the church is also not bad at all – there is a chapel dedicated to Virgin Mary which provides for a nice composition.

At this point the sun was high enough to reveal all beauty of the slopes around the Polhov Gradec, photo taken in front of the chapel.

And finally the view from the church itself onto the farm at the foot of the Church Hill.

As we mentioned already, there are many churches on the peaks and slopes around Polhov Gradec, St. Ursula is one of them some 15 minutes drive from Črni vrh.

St. Ursula

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St. Ursula is one of the many small churches on the slopes and peaks of the hills around Polhov Gradec in Central Slovenia which provide for some fabulous photo motifs. Where to in Slovenia features micro locations for mobile photography and sometimes micro stands for really – micro. This one fits into the category but still offers many different views and options to compose a photo.

All of the featured photo spots are on the map with exact positions so we won’t bother with navigation, let us only tell you that reaching St. Ursula can be a pleasant short hike from the touristic farm reached by car or a longer one from the valley. The church is visible almost all the time on the shorter hike.

The peaks of Mala Grmada and Grmada in the vicinity of St. Ursula are popular hiking destination in these hills.

 

The “rear” view is a kind of Slovenian classic and since nothing disturbs the composition it is probably one of the best of the kind as well.

However, the church itself is only a half of the story.

The other half is definitely the view of the surrounding hills over the meadows above the farm.

St. Lawrence is another peak with a church just over the valley.

Personally we can’t wait to hike there again to observe the sunset – location is just right for that. Enjoy!

Check out also the great views of the Črni vrh in the vicinity!

Text and photos: Zoran Leban Trojar @zokus_gf

Planina Summit above Vrhnika

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Where to in Slovenia features micro locations for mobile photographers. Planina Hill near Vrhnika in Central Slovenia is very popular hiking destinations of the city of Vrhnika and also of  the Ljubljana area. Many different starting points and alternative routes are available for hikers and bikers and the summit is also accessible by car. There is a wooden lookout tower near the lodge…

it is 22m high and offers magnificent views over the Ljubljana Marshes…

… settlements around Vrhnika…

…surrounding hills…

… and in good weather conditions even the Julian Alps with the mighty Mt. Triglav.

 

However, without conquering the tower the views are limited and from the tower a phone camera alone won’t be enough to capture a good shot. Taking the Kuren trail or driving from Vrhnika brings you to the Kmetija odprtih vrat (Agrotourism) where a similar views are available from much lower height though.

Text and photos: Zoran Leban Trojar @zokus_gf.

 

Ljubljana Marshes

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Where to in Slovenia features micro locations for mobile photographers. Sometimes it is quite a challenge to define “micro” – we have already described some locations in Ljubljana Marshes and they are really micro-located. On the other hand the whole territory of the marshes share some common features that can be observed and captured almost everywhere so we can think of the whole Ljubljana Marshes as one location.

Ljubljana Marshes are a part of Central Slovenia region and there is an Instagram challenge underway which offers nice prizes for the best photos os certain locations in Central Slovenia, Ljubljana Marshes is one of them. learn more about the challenge!

So where the marshes start if looking from Ljubljana? Where can we draw a line between the capital and Central Slovenia region to which the marshes belong? One could easily decide to put the beginning at the at the point where Ljubljanica river, which is at the same time the Mother and the Child of the marshes, enters the city and becomes an “urban river”.

This “break” in the river’s nature happens at the quarter called Livada where a canoe and kayak club is located. We have described this place as Entering the city with Ljubljanica river. The photo bellow features an upstream view of the river which doesn’t change much over the marshes all the way to Vrhnika.

However, the residents of Ljubljana would probably agree that the real marshes begin at Črna vas, the oldest village of the marshes. There the floods are already present and the buildings have to be built on piles. However, the village is probably best known by its parish church of St. Michael designed by the famous architect Jožef Plečnik.

From Črna vas two roads lead to the two other important settlements of the marshes – the villages of Ig and Podpeč. The later is best known by its lake – Podpeško jezero.

Just above the lake and the village is a typical motif of Slovenia, a church on the top of the hill and probably the best spot to observe and photograph the Ljubljana Marshes: St. Anna!

The church itself is also very photogenic.

The vast flat landscape with a lot of mist, lonely trees, wet meadows and occasional corn field, drainage canals and gravel roads is otherwise lacking  landmarks. Early mornings or sunset time are the best to capture there. There is one spot we choose to be the best for sunrise beside the Lake Podpeč and St. Anna: Ižica river.

In the early spring some of the wet meadows are full of  Snake’s head Fritillaries so we find a nice spot to capture them as well.

The best way to explore the marshes is probably with bike, check out some nice daily tours we have designed with Visit Good Place tourist agency!

Text and photos: Zoran Leban Trojar @zokus_gf