Lake Ptuj is the largest Slovenian artificial lake. It was created in 1978 by putting a dam on the River Drava under Ptuj, and it serves as a reservoir for the Formin hydro power plant; at the same time it is becoming a place for recreational purposes as rowing, sailing and fishing. The lake is 7.3 km long and 1.2 km wide. It covers 420 hectares, the maximum depth reaches 12 metres and the water quantity in the lake is 20 for wintering of water birds in Slovenia. Around 10,000 birds spend every winter on this lake, which is around 20% of all wintering water birds in Slovenia. Owing to a huge importance of bird protection, Lake Ptuj was together with the River Drava pronounced as the Natura 2000 area in 2004. During the winter shortages, upsetting the water birds might be fatal. To pro-vide a necessary peaceful environment for wintering birds a part of the lake is prohibited for sailing. To this end the Municipalities Markovci and Ptuj adopt-ed a Decision which limits the sailing on most sensitive spots of the lake.

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Along the left bank of the River Drava, 2 kilometres from the centre of the town, in the settlement Oregje, there is a Hince's sequoia. This sort of tree was brought to Europe in the 19th century and it was planted in parks. The sequoia in Oregje is the biggest tree of this type in Slovenia. The circumference of the tree is 7.7 metres and it is 45 metres tall.

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Not far from Ptuj, close to the village of Podvinci, there are two ponds: a big one and a small one, called »Pacinje« and »Tičnica«. The ponds are at least 200 years old and are mapped in the old Austrian Joseph's cadastre. It is sup­posed that Maria Theresa intended to use them for provision of the army with fish. Since their creation until today, the ponds in Podvinci are together with the forest that surrounds them, a heaven for many different species of animals and plants. Due to some rare species which are almost extinct elsewhere, the ponds with their surrounding are protected as a nature reserve. The ponds are defined as an European important area for con­serving nature as well — the Natura 2000 area.

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Mithraism is a mystic religion and it was forbidden to write about it. It originates from Persia and was brought here by Roman officials and soldiers. Religious rites could be attended only by men since the religion was secret.

In the western part of the Roman Po-etovio, on Zgornji Breg, there was the largest Mithras Shrine placed in a dense residential quarter of the town. It was discovered by Viktor Skrabar and PhD Mihovil AbramiE in 1913. The Shrine is conserved under a protected building which was already the following year repaired by the museum association with voluntary contributions. In the shrine, built in the middle of the 3rd century, dominate the altars with dedications from the soldiers of Legio XIII Gemina and V Macedonia, under the command of Flavius Aper. The shrine is tripartite in the longitude and has a sunk medium part. On the wall, opposite the entrance there is a fresco - a copy of the altar relief from the Mithras Shrine in Osterburken.

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 Along Volkmerjeva Street there is an old cemetery which is today a monument park as well. Many tombstones keep the memory of well-known people of Ptuj and the centre of it is the obelisk placed on the tomb of the combatant belong­ing to the Slovenjegoriška troop. In the vicinity there is a monument dedicated to the national war hero Joie Lacko. On the cemetery you can find graves of sol­diers form the World War I and graves of Yugoslavian soldiers from 1941.

In the centre of the Town Square, in front of the Town Hall, there is a monument of the patron St. Flori-jan who protects the town against fire which had affected the town. It was erected by the citizens of Ptuj in 1745.

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In Town Square there is a town hall. This is an eminent building from the beginning of the 20th century; today it houses the headquarters of the Ptuj Municipal­ity.

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On the area of the ancient artisan's quarter of the old Poetovio, numerous clay kilns and brick kilns were discov­ered. One of them is displayed on the same place as it has been discovered. A shop opposite the brick kiln is named af­ter it and the whole area there is called Roman platform.

In front of the city tower, in Slovene square, there is a mighty antique marble tombstone with engraved scenes from the Orpheus myth and there comes the name: Or­pheus Monument. In the Middle Ages the tombstone was used as a pillory – pranger.

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In 1830 Roman monuments were inbuilt in the foothills of the City Tower by Si­mon Povoden who had found them on the area of ancient Poetovio. Therefore Ptuj got the first open-air museum »sub divog (under the clear sky), the museum was named after his creator – Povoden's Museum.

On the Slovene square, along the Church of St. George, a high, seen from far, mighty tower raises and it was already built by the citizens of Ptuj in the 14th century. The Tower is a proof of power, richness and importance of the town of Ptuj.

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The parish church of St. George was built on the east part of the oldest Ptuj and despite many refurbishments shows mainly a Gothic look. In 1863 the Church of St. George became a provost's church. Below the choir, under the glass bell, there is a wooden gothic statue of St. George from 1380 who is also a patron of the church and of the whole town.

The castle hill has already been settled since the 5th millennium BC. The inhab­itants of antique Poetovio built a for­tress and temples there, and in the Early Middle Ages a Slavonic burial place was there.

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