Veržej, a village of old crafts on the Mura

The Babič floating mill

It’s a mill built on boats on the Mura, with a large wheel turned by the current. Marianum describes it as the only real floating mill still working on the river, where you can hear the stones grinding and smell the flour. Nearby, soft paths along the bank lead to the Mura’s oxbow lakes, which the same source says are richer in life than the river itself. In spring the meadows fill with snowdrops and then white narcissi, with storks strolling among them.

The DUO centre and the crafts of the Mura

Marianum, the Salesian house built thanks to the bequest of local landowner Anton Puščenjak, runs the DUO craft centre, which in May 2026 received the municipality’s plaque for its 20 years. It holds workshops in weaving with natural materials, at the potter’s wheel and at the forge, puts on exhibitions at Christmas and Easter in the Puščenjak hall and sells clay, straw, wicker, wood and metal pieces by local makers. The tourist board also lists Veržej among the region’s pottery workshops. At its summer camp stand five zemljanke, replica Slavic pit houses dug into the earth, because one of the oldest Slavic sites in the country has been recorded at Veržej.

To me, places like this are among the most honest a village can offer, because they don’t sell a postcard, they teach a trade.

Terme Banovci

The spa has more than 2,000 m² of pools, indoor and outdoor, with thermal mineral water up to 38°C, slides, two hotels, a 130-pitch campsite and a separate naturist area. The outdoor pools open in summer only.

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A day in Veržej

Veržej lies between Ljutomer, home of the trotting horses, and Radenci, with its mineral-water spa. To the south begin the vineyards of Jeruzalem. If you want to compare spas, the guide to spas in Slovenia covers those in Pomurje and the rest of the country.

The church and St Michael’s fair

In the old market centre stands St Michael’s Church, built in 1726 with baroque altars. In 2026 it marked its 300th year at Miholovo, the patron’s fair, on 27 September, with craft stalls, a parade of folk groups and food under a big marquee. A Marian column rises in the square. Veržej was home to the composer Slavko Osterc and the historian Franc Kovačič.

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A small village with 33,448 arrivals

According to SURS, the village has 969 residents and the municipality 1,361 on 1 January 2026, in just 12 km² and three settlements. In 2025 it logged 33,448 arrivals and 105,208 overnight stays. The explanation lies at Banovci, the neighbouring settlement, where the tourist board places one of Pomurje’s spas. The Salesian institute Marianum, which tells the village’s story, recalls that it was a proud market town for centuries, slipped to an ordinary village after the Second World War and has been a municipality in its own right since independence.

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