Address
Motnik 33, 1221 Motnik
GPS
46.214624192368, 14.887390168593
Telephone
Motnik is one of the most interesting markets in the Tuhinj valley. Motnik was granted market rights as early as 1423 by Ernest Železni, the Austrian Archduke, who was the last duke enthroned in Gosposvetsko Polje in the Slovene language.
Motnik, which is said to have been named after the murky water of the Motnišnica stream, was a well-known place throughout its long history. In the Middle Ages, for some 200 years, the later so-called Imperial Road did not pass through the Trojane and the Črni graben, but only through the Tuhinjska valley to travel between Štajersko and Trieste. Thus, alongside the freight and van trades, harness-making, catering and other trades that had any connection with travellers, freight and van drivers developed.
Butchers, weavers, dyers, potters, blacksmiths, wheelwrights and hatters were also active alongside the bustling local life, and of particular interest was the activity of horse-preparation, which was necessary because of the proximity of the hills.
It is little known that Motnik even had its own lignite mine. In 1910, palaeontologists found the remains of a prehistoric animal in the mine – a dwarf rhinoceros.
There are many other interesting things to see and do when you visit Motnik. You can visit the Dwarf Rhino Museum with a life-size model of the rhinoceros in the Municipal House, or you can follow the Motnik Tourist Trail. It takes two and a half hours to see most of the sights mentioned above.