Olimje Monastery

Olimje was rebuilt as a Renaissance castle around 1550 and became a Pauline monastery in the seventeenth century, later Minorite, and the room people come for is the pharmacy: a vaulted apothecary set up by the Pauline monks, with its painted walls and ceiling intact, saints and physicians above shelves of labelled jars. It is described locally as one of the oldest surviving pharmacies in Europe. A herb garden is laid out behind the monastery and the church holds a large gilded Baroque altar.

History

A castle stood here from about 1000, held by the counts of Peilestein; Count Tattenbach rebuilt it in Renaissance style around 1550, and in 1663 Baron Ivan Zakmardy gave it to the Pauline order, who by 1675 had turned it into a monastery with a Baroque church and set up a pharmacy, among the oldest in Europe. The Conventual Franciscans revived the monastery on 15 August 1999 (Wikipedia, Olimje Castle).

What to look for

• The painted pharmacy - a vaulted apothecary with frescoes and jars.
• The herb garden - beds of medicinal plants worked by the community.
• The Baroque altar - the large gilded high altar in the monastery church.
• The Renaissance core - the manor with corner towers underneath the monastery.

When to go

April to October is the main season; winter hours are shorter. Weekends and the nearby spa traffic make afternoons busy. The herb garden is at its best in early summer.

Things to know

The pharmacy is a single small room and the visit is short. The complex sits beside a tourist strip with a chocolate shop and coach parking. Interpretation in English is limited.

Nearby

Podcetrtek is east, and Podsreda is south.

Key facts