Šentilj, a border crossing with more than meets the eye

What is Cmurek Castle?

It stands at Trate, on a crag beside the Mura bridge into Mureck, in Austria. According to the Slovene Wikipedia, the lords of Cmurek built it in the early 1100s, the Counts of Celje took it over in 1386 and the Stubenbergs in 1401, keeping it until 1931. It has a Renaissance arcaded courtyard around a Romanesque core. After the Second World War it became a care home and then an institution for people with mental illness, housing between 200 and 400 residents, until it closed in 2004 and they moved into small community homes.

That story is told today by Muzej norosti, the Museum of Madness, now 13 years old. Visits are guided only and last 90 minutes, and in 2026 it opens from 7 April to November, Tuesday to Saturday at set times, with tours in Slovene and German. For me it’s among the most original visits in Slovenia, because it doesn’t show you a castle so much as how a society treated the people it shut away.

Crossing the Mura by ferry

At Sladki Vrh, a ferry has crossed the Mura for 150 years. The municipality says it’s one of four still working on the river and a one-of-a-kind international border crossing, now used mostly by tourists because cross-border cycle routes and footpaths run over it. It operates from 15 March to 15 November on seasonal hours. If you’re on a bike, that makes it worth planning the day around its timetable, since it links the cycle routes on both banks of the river.

Šentilj, the border with Austria

According to SURS, the municipality has 8,371 residents on 1 January 2026, across twenty-two settlements in the Slovenske gorice hills, and Šentilj v Slovenskih goricah itself has 2,353. In 2025 it logged 16,068 arrivals and 20,553 overnight stays, just over one night per guest, which is what you’d expect of a place people pass through. The name comes from St Giles’s Church, recorded in 1329, sacked by the Ottomans in 1532 and rebuilt in the early 19th century, according to the English Wikipedia. Until 21 December 2007, when Slovenia joined Schengen, this was where passports were checked on the road from Maribor to Graz.

To sleep close to everything, search places to stay in Maribor on Expedia and filter by area before price.

Šentilj on the way to Maribor

Šentilj takes half a day, ideally by bike. To the south, Maribor is the natural base, and beyond the city Hoče-Slivnica climbs towards Pohorje. Downstream on the Mura lies Gornja Radgona and its sparkling wine, and the whole of northern Podravje can be explored through the vineyards.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Maribor and pick one that fits your day.

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