Novo Mesto

Novo Mesto was founded in 1365 on a spur inside a loop of the Krka, but the ground under and around it had been settled far earlier: the Hallstatt cemeteries here have yielded so many bronze situlae, decorated buckets with figural friezes, that the town is sometimes called the city of situlae. The finds are in the Dolenjska Museum. The old town is a stepped square, Glavni trg, with an arcaded side and a Gothic chapter church above the river.

History

The area has been settled since prehistory and is one of the most important sites of the Hallstatt culture in Europe, nicknamed the City of Situlas. Graben Castle on the Krka is first mentioned in 1170, and Archduke Rudolf IV founded the town as Rudolfswerth on 7 April 1365 (Wikipedia, Novo Mesto).

Highlights

• The situlae - decorated Iron Age bronze buckets from the cemeteries around the town.
• The Dolenjska Museum - the archaeological collection holding the Hallstatt material.
• Glavni trg - the sloping arcaded main square.
• The Krka loop - the river bend enclosing the old town, seen from the Kandija bridge.

When to go

Year round; the museum closes on Mondays. Spring and autumn are pleasant for the riverside. Summer is hot in the valley.

Before you go

The modern town is industrial and the old core is small. The museum is the main draw and its labelling in English is partial. The riverside is less developed than it could be.

Nearby

Otocec is east, and Kostanjevica na Krki is southeast.

Key facts