Štanjel

About this place

Štanjel is a hilltop village in the Municipality of Komen in Slovenia's Littoral region, on the Karst Plateau overlooking the Vipava Valley, about 21 km southeast of Nova Gorica and 57 km west of Ljubljana in a straight line. Its position made it an important settlement from the Iron Age; it reached its peak in the Romanesque period, with Gothic elements also preserved, and it was fortified in the 17th century. Its castle was built in the Middle Ages and given its present form at the end of the 17th century by the Counts of Cobenzl; it now holds a permanent collection of work by the graphic artist Lojze Spacal. Grey stone houses with tiled roofs pile up on the hilltop beneath a pointed bell tower, and the yellow castle with its two round towers stands at the edge of the village. Inside, stone lanes and steps wind between the houses, and from the edges a view opens over the Vipava Valley and hills. Visitors wander the quiet stone lanes up to the castle, visit its gallery and stand at the edges for views of the valley. The village is small, an hour or two is enough, and it makes a good stop between Ljubljana and the coast.