Litija, the Sava town in the heart of Slovenia

Things to do in Litija: the Sitarjevec mine

The Sitarjevec mine is now an underground museum. Its website calls it one of the most mineral-rich sites in Europe, with more than sixty, among them galena, sphalerite, cinnabar, chalcopyrite and barite, and nearby archaeological finds suggest ore was dug in Litija 4,000 years ago. The real draw is the stalactites, curtains and spaghetti of ochre limonite, which grow up to five centimetres a year.

Visits are guided and must be booked. The export tunnel is easy going, and the first 200 m show the best of it; the main tunnel, reached down a 17 m incline, is closed to children under ten. On Saturdays at 10am you can join the export tunnel tour without booking.

Slovenia’s geometric centre and Vače

At Slivna, near Vače, a monument has marked the geometric centre of Slovenia since 1982, the GEOSS. It carries verses of the present national anthem, and a lime tree was planted beside it. Next door is what the tourist centre calls the country’s largest adventure park, with seven tree-top courses, a 915 m zip line and hanging beds for a night in the canopy.

Vače was one of the most important Iron Age centres on Slovene soil. In 1882 Janez Grilc dug up the Vače situla here, a bronze bucket from the first half of the 5th century BC with three bands of men and animals. The original is in the National Museum of Slovenia, and Klenik has an enlarged replica, reached along a path lined with wooden sculptures.

Litija, a town split by the Sava

Litija has 6,732 residents, and its municipality 15,890 across 107 settlements and 221.3 km², the largest in Zasavje, according to SURS. The Sava runs through it and divides it into two banks, and the tourist centre points out that this is where the river makes its biggest bend. The town appears in records in 1256 and was officially Littai in German until 1918. Valvasor claimed the name came from the Latin litus, riverbank, an idea now dismissed.

The railway changed everything. After the Southern Railway arrived, the first industries followed, such as the 1886 spinning mill on the left bank, and Litija overtook its neighbour Šmartno pri Litiji, once the more important place. The City Museum tells that story, with the Sava raftsmen and ferrymen, the railway and the mine, and opens on weekday mornings, with a €3 ticket.

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Charcoal burners, walks and getting there

At Dole pri Litiji, the Oglarska dežela keeps the charcoal-burning tradition going, with gatherings in May and September, and the tourist centre also suggests routes such as the Levstik Trail to Čatež or the vineyard walk from Liberga to Vinji vrh. The tourist office, at Valvazorjev trg 10, opens on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and on Saturday morning at the mine reception.

From Ljubljana you can drive along the Sava valley or take the train, as Litija has a station. If you have a hire car, add Bogenšperk Castle, a few kilometres away.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Litija on GetYourGuide.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Litija for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.