Holiday apartment in Šoštanj between carnival tradition and Lake Družmirsko

Šoštanj has been known as a carnival town since 1953. Pust Šoštanjski is a traditional carnival tradition and therefore one of the town’s distinctive cultural features.

Culture

Pusti Grad was built in the 12th century and destroyed as early as the 15th century. At Pusti Grad, a restored, multi-storey Romanesque defensive tower has been preserved up to its original height. The tower is one of the few Romanesque defensive towers in Slovenia preserved to this height.

Vila Mayer is a typical example of late Gründerzeit bourgeois architecture. Together with its garden, it is protected as a cultural monument of local importance. Above the old market centre of Šoštanj stands the Church of Saints Hermagoras and Fortunatus. It contains two Baroque altars and a Gothic fresco from the 14th century.

The Museum of Tanning in Slovenia presents Šoštanj’s 210-year tanning tradition: from the founding of the Vošnjak tannery in 1788, through its rise to large-scale industry, to the closure of the factory in 1999. At the centre of Trg bratov Mravljakov stands the Marian Column. The tannery owner Mihael Woschnagg (II) and his wife Agata Jožefa erected the column in memory of the severe flood of 1887.

Nature

Šoštanj lies in the western part of the Šaleška Valley, on a plain by the Paka River. East of the town, Lake Družmirsko stretches towards Velenje; it is the deepest lake in Slovenia. It was formed by subsidence above abandoned tunnels of the Velenje Coal Mine. Lake Družmirsko began to form by 1975 at the latest and covered more than 63 hectares in 2005.

Traditional events also feature the lake: every year, thousands of lights illuminate Lake Družmirsko during Praznik luči. Lake Družmirsko is considered attractive for fishing.

Getting around

Trška pot is an easy hiking trail in the immediate vicinity of Šoštanj. It was created to mark the boundary of the former market town of Šoštanj. The traditional guided walk or hike along Trška pot includes a longer route with 4 to 5 hours of walking time and a shorter route with 2 hours of walking time.

Šoštanj can be reached by bicycle, car, motorcycle, taxi, bus or train. Near Šoštanj, panoramic flights over the Šaleška Valley are available at Lajše Sports Airfield.

The same points can be used when considering a holiday house in Šoštanj. This keeps the comparison focused on the specific information for each individual listing. Open the offers you would like to examine more closely, and pay attention to which services and conditions are actually stated.

Further destinations

Further destinations: Velenje, Gorenje, Topolšica.

To the higher-level travel overview: Velenje.