Your Bela Krajina Triangles of Happiness - Part 1

To make your holiday with us easier, we've put together mini tips for mini trips! Find your own mini triangle of happiness or make a bigger one. Triangles of Happiness offer you the chance to experience at least 3 things at once in the destination. Culture, nature, gastronomy or cycling, history, relaxing in nature..

Semič - Vinji Vrh - Krupa

Start at Semič and, with an ice cream in hand, explore the town centre with the Church of St Stephen, the remains of the walls below, and the mosaic chapel of Little Therese. Across the road, the Semič Museum House awaits you with an interesting interactive collection, and further down the street, you'll find a small garden in the middle of Semiča. The trail is 12.5 kilometres long and leads through a karst landscape. You can walk or cycle, it's easy and there are no climbs. It is also suitable for family explorations, as most of the trail is on a macadam forest path. You can rent a bike at Hotel Smuk and go exploring.
Before you descend to the Krupa Spring, the small Church of the Holy Trinity awaits you at Vinji Vrh. On special days, the church used to be crowded with pilgrims, so a shed was added so they could worship outside. The architectural design of this church is an echo of the New Stift. From a distance, the most noticeable feature is its dome, which was once covered with shingles. The interior of the church is baroque, gilded, and very acoustical. The romantic landscape with vineyards around the church is just crying out to be photographed.
When you arrive at the Krupa Spring, the 30-metre-high rock above the spring simply captivates you. Underneath are 7 gushing springs, which feed the Krupa River with an abundance of emerald water. Krupa is not suitable for swimming as its temperature is always around 10 degrees Celsius, and it is protected as a natural monument. But you can lounge on the tables with the most beautiful view. If you came by bicycle and want to go further, you will have to walk over the suspension footbridge and walk along the Krupa to the Judovska Hiša and make a circle back to the starting point, from where you will return to the Semič to the Summer Evening in front of the Cultural Centre.

Would you like to discover more of Semič?

Gače - Ponikve - Planina - Mirna Gora

Start your day in Gače and rent a regular or e-bike to help you with the gentle climbs. First, cross the ski slope and head to the abandoned village of Ponikve. Just before the Second World War, a wood-gas sawmill, built in 1935-1936, started operating in the village and burnt down in 1939. Its ruins are still visible, but have been overgrown by thick spruce trees. Apart from the ruins of the houses, which have already been covered by the forest, Ponikve is a very large karst meadow, which is also a large deposit of wild orchids, which we don't pick!
The inhabitants of Ponikve used to be buried in the cemetery on Planina, near the church of St. Elijah.
From Planina, climb Mirna Gora, where you can eat a home-cooked daily lunch and eat the best pancakes around, and return to Gače full of energy.

Are you near Metlika?

House of Delicacies of the White Landscape - Three Farms - Vinomerski steljniki

Visit the Bela Krajina House of Local Delights, where you can rent a bicycle with a basket of Bela Krajina delicacies and go on a Bela Krajina Bike Picnic. Head to the Three Parishes in Rosalnice. The Three Parishes is a pilgrimage complex of three Gothic churches, squeezed inside a high cemetery wall, which is probably partly a remnant of an anti-Turkish camp. The churches stand side by side. The northern church is dedicated to the Sorrowful Mother of God, the middle church bears the patronage of Behold the Man (Ecco homo), and the southern church is dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. Head to the Vinomer Birch Forest with Bracken Undergrowth to eat local delicacies from the basket you brought with you. Be sure to put your rubbish back in the basket and take it back to the Bela Krajina House of Local Delights, where you can buy local products and produce from the Bela Krajina region.

Kambič Gallery - Bela Krajina Museum - Pečarič Wine House

Where else to experience culture than in old historic towns and market towns. Step into the Kambič Gallery, where a temporary exhibition of painters, sculptors, and other artists awaits you on the ground floor, and upstairs, you can see the unique legacy of Dr. Vink Kambič, a passionate collector and doctor from Metlika, and his wife, Vilma Bukovec, an opera prima donna. The collection of paintings and sculptures includes works by renowned Slovenian artists. A special place in the collection belongs to twelve works by one of the most successful painters, Zoran Mušič. In addition to Mušič, the collection includes Rihard Jakopič, Stojan Batič, and many others.
Visit the largest museum in Bela Krajina, hidden in the rooms of Metlika Castle. If you've enjoyed the beauty of the paintings before, here you can marvel at the rich history and archaeological legacy of the region. Here you'll find 7,000-year-old clay pottery, glass strawberries, a cast of the Mithras Temple, a rich ethnological collection leading back to the collections of both wars and Slovenia's independence.
If you're here on Thursdays in July and August, after a sip of culture and history, head for a sip of good wine at Šturm Winery above the town centre. Walk to Veselica, where there is also a lookout point overlooking Metlika, and continue to Čurile. As part of the Open Doors of Bela Krajina, the Pečarič House of Wine is open from 16:00 to 18:00, and you can come and taste some very good wines. unannounced.

Treasury - Mitrej - Zupančič Excursion Farm

Get to know Bela Krajina in the area under the Črnomalj Castle. With a large screen with video content, Easter Eggs Pisanice, Gudalo, and billboards describing the special features of the Bela Krajina, the Treasury is the perfect place to start your journey.
Then head into the forest of Rožanec to the Mithras Temple - one of the few ancient sanctuaries still preserved in nature. See the relief of the god Mithras and the sacrifice of the bull, and relax among the limestone and greenery that surround you in this ancient sanctuary. In the distance, you will hear the bells of St George's Church, which is built over the hidden shrine of Mithras and symbolises the victory of Christianity over the pagan religion brought here by Roman soldiers.
From there, head to the village of Jelševnik, where you will find the Župančič Excursion Farm floating above the water. The house by the spring is also the Black Olm Info Point, where you can see a cousin of the world-famous white olm in its natural habitat.

Oton Zupančič Memorial House - Žeželj - bathing place at Benetič

Ciciban, good day! Do you still remember the verses of the famous children's poet Oton Zupančič? Visit his birthplace and discover his achievements. Sit down and read some verses from the Cup of Intoxication, read Ciciban and the Bee to your child.
After getting to know famous Bela Krajina poets and writers, head on foot to Žeželj Hill. Žeželj and the Church of the Mother of God were once a very important pilgrimage church for the surrounding population. In the 15th century, during the Ottoman invasions, the church provided security, as a camp wall was built around it to protect the inhabitants. As you walk back down from the hunting lodge towards Vinica, stop and enjoy the beautiful view over Vinica, the Kolpa River, and neighbouring Croatia. Go down to the Benetič and jump into the Kolpa River.

28.6.2024
Author: Tamara Lončarič, DMO Bela krajina