PTUJ

Ptuj is the oldest documented town on the Slovenian territory and is situated in the north-east of Slovenia, in the centre of Spodnje Podravje, on the border with Prlekija. In the complete old part of Ptuj the monuments are protected.

• The area of the town measures 66.7 km².
• The number of inhabitants in themunicipality amounts to 23,716.
• The altitude is 232 metres.
• The climate is subpannonian – the average temperature is 10 °C.
• The municipality includes 5533 house numbers in 10 settlements and eight quarters.
• The settlements within the munici­pality are the following: Grajena, Grajenščak, Kicar, Krčevina pri Vurbergu, Mestni Vrh, Pacinje, Podvinci, Ptuj, Spodnji Velovlek and Spuhlja.
• The quarters are the following: Breg – Turnike, Center, Grajena, Jezero, Ljudski vrt, Panorama, Rogoznica and Spuhlja.

The history of Ptuj actually starts in the pre-historic times and goes back four millenniums, that is in the period which does not have any written sources; however an abundant life flourished then "which prepared a way to the historical era as a morning dusk to the shining day" (F. Kovačič).

Ptuj reached one of its peaks in the antique era when the place was inhabited by Romans. First they established a legion camp where two legions found their place and protected the border. The first was Legio VIII Augusta and after that Legio XIII Gemina. In the beginning of the 2nd century the Emperor Trajan conferred to the town a status of colony (high administrative rang) which was called after the Emperor's family name COLONIA ULPIA TRAIANA POETOVIO. A flourishing provincial Roman town developed with numerous quarters, rich artisan's activity and interesting religious cults with local characteristics. The town developed into a strong centre of Mithraism and in the late centuries of the Empire also the centre of Christianity with the bishop Viktorin Ptujski. In a certain period the town also had a customs administration.

In the Early Middle Ages, after 874, the town and the estate of Ptuj came into the possession of the Archdiocese of Salzburg and were under the auspices of Salzburg – with minor interruptions – until 1555 when the town became the property of sovereign prince and the es­tate became a fief.

The archbishop of Salzburg ceded the Castle to the lords of Ptuj who reached a great power later, among other things they were also the supreme provincial judges on the area of Styria despite the fact they were only the ministerials of Salzburg. In 1438 the family of lords of Ptuj became extinct.

Ptuj became the place of regular fairs and the head office of a parish and ex­tremely important military post. For­mally, Ptuj became a town with town privileges around 1250. The town pros­pered due to the commercial road from Hungary to Venice leading via Ptuj. During the pressure from Turks, Ptuj became one of main border fortresses of Podravje and kept this position un­til the end of wars with Kruci in 1711. The loss of an important military role, and altered economic and commercial streams, administrative reforms and numerous huge fires which additionally exhausted the town, changed it into an average rural town.

In October 1887, Ptuj got its own stat­ute and voting regulations for a mu­nicipality and became an Imperial-royal autonomous manor town which in 1918 after the fall of Austro-Hungarian Mon­archy and after the end of the World War I became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians and later a part of Yugoslavia. In the independent Slovenia, Ptuj is one of municipalities.