Smlednik Castle Ruins
Description
Smlednik Castle was presumably built in the 12th century on the foundations of a prehistoric fort and a Roman stronghold of a later origin. The strategic location of the hill overlooking a crossing of the Sava River was appreciated by the first lords of the region, the Counts of Weimar Orlamunde, who built a defence tower on the hilltop in the 11th century. The tower was then expanded in several phases, but remained unaltered after 1610 and is thus the purest example of the architectural development of a mid-sized medieval castle in central Slovenia.
The famous Slovenian chronist Janez Vajkard Valvasor reffered to the Smlednik castle as a ruin already in the second half of the 17th century.