MARKOVCI

Markovci is a village and municipality on Ptujsko polje, beneath the Drava terrace. To the north of the village there is a gravely terrace with fertile fields, giving good yields per hectare. The municipality consists of nine settlements, namely Borovci, Bukovci, Markovci, Nova vas pri Markovcih, Prvenci, Sobetinci, Stojnci, Strelci and Zabovci. With an area of 30 km2 it has more than 4000 inhabitants.

The village was first mentioned in 1215. It belonged to the then Dornava district. On the site of the present parish there used to be a manor house, the home of the castle caretakers, whose legacy can be seen in the current local names Majerija and Forstner. The manor was demolished by the Turks in 1493.

The Markovci municipality used to be named the municipality of Sv. Marka niie Ptuja (St. Mark below Ptuj), con-sisting of 8 settlements (Borovci, Buko-vci, Nova vas, Prvenci, Sobetinci, Strelci, Sv. Marko (Markovci) and Zabovci). On 3277 hectares there lived 3341 inhabitants. The main sectors were agriculture and livestock breeding; pig farming was highly developed. There was a lot of beekeeping, which had favourable conditions on buckwheat fields, blossoming in autumn. The mu¬nicipality belonged to the "onion land", encompassing areas between Ptuj, St. Marko and Mogkanjci. Markovci is at the centre of carnival customs such as koranti, orači, ruse, piceki. Carnival time is a genuine folk festival, begin ning on Carnival Sunday and ending on Carnival Tuesday, when the place is crowded with various masqueraders. The village organises its own carnival, entitled Fagenk v Markovcih.