About The Photographer
Jure Kralj is an incredibly talented photographer based in Slovenia’s second largest city Maribor, who combines his love for travelling around the world with his love for landscape and cityscape photography. He is an enthusiastic observer of the surrounding world. When possible, he is looking for the best light, for the right angle at the right moment to capture a compelling image. But Jure is not trying to just photograph a record of a location, he’s always striving to create a beautiful image that reveals something of the character and atmosphere of the place. Jure concurs with Elliot Erwitt’s view that “photography is an art of observation. It is about finding something interesting in an ordinary place. It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them”. And Jure’s work brilliantly encapsulates this perspective on the essence of photography.
In 2014, Jure launched his own line of postcards featuring some of his most beautiful shots of his hometown, Maribor. Large, small, innovative, dynamic, colorful and simply beautiful, the postcards quickly became a hit among visitors to Maribor and have already been sent to many different parts of the world.
The picture gallery below features a selection of photographs taken by Jure Kralj in a variety of locations around Slovenia. If you want to see more of his stunning landscape and cityscape photos, you can visit his Facebook page JK Photography and his official website Jure Kralj, where you can also purchase high quality prints of some of Jure’s best photographs.
Photo Gallery
A beautiful picture gallery containing 45 exceptional landscape, cityscape and nature photos from around Slovenia by Jure Kralj.
As the capital of the Styria region, Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia. The town lies on the Drava river and is one of Slovenia’s most beautiful cities.
Maribor oozes charm thanks to its lovely Old Town along the Drava River, also known as Lent.
Maribor lies on both sides of the Drava river, connected with three bridges, of which the Old Bridge is the oldest (built built between the years 1906 and 1912). It connects the historic city centre on the left side of the river with the new city core that lies on the right side.
The Main Square is the largest of Maribor’s squares and is lined with buildings with interesting facades and architectural ornamentations. The Plague Column is the centerpiece of this Square. The column was erected in 1681 in grateful appreciation of the cessation of the plague epidemic, which had decimated almost a third of Maribor’s inhabitants. A lot of narrow streets with lots of bars, boutiques and small gift shops can be found here.
The Liberty Square is Maribor’s favourite hang-out spot. It is used for outdoor meetings, cultural events, and memorials, when it is not being used as an open-air market. The square is built on the protective ditch that once surrounded the Castle. The National Liberation Monument dominates the square. Sculpted by Slavko Tihec in 1975, this bronze monument bears the facial images of heroes of the city of Maribor. On its base, the monument has an engraved announcement of the shooting of the 667 hostages and partisan fighters by the German occupation forces during the Second World War. The locals call the monument Kojak, since it reminds them of the bald-headed detective Kojak, of the very popular American TV series from the 70’s.
Pedestrianised central streets in Maribor buzz with well-priced cafes and small restaurants. Every December, during the festive season, the streets are beautifully decorated with Christmas lights and decorations.
Piran is a small, super charming medieval preserved seaside town. It’s very different to the mostly-Alpine scenery of Slovenia and is very Mediterranean with pretty squares and narrow alleys.
Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana exudes a charming elegance. In the late 19th century, the city was pretty much leveled by an earthquake, which brought the architecture and colors that exist today. Buildings are gorgeous with different colors and ornaments. The Ljubljanica River runs right through the middle. The whole area is a pedestrian zone and strolling through the streets of Ljubljana is a real treat, they are as charming as any European city you can imagine.
Triple Bridge that crosses the Ljubljanica River is picturesque and an important landmark in Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana. It is a very lively spot that leads into Ljubljana’s Old Town, located right next to the main Preseren square and the pink Franciscan church. The Bridge was designed by Joze Plecnik and has a Venetian look to it. It was opened on 25 September 1842 and the essentials of the bridge have been preserved until today, which is evidenced by the inscribed dedication to the archduke above its central pier, reading in Latin ‘ARCHIDVCI. FRANCISCO. CAROLO. MDCCCXLII. CIVITAS.’, which means ‘To Archduke Franz Karl in 1842 by the Town’.
Ljubljana’s incredible Christmas lights celebrate science with fancy geometric forms, math equations, galaxies, planets, comets and shooting stars!
One of the main attractions in the town of Kamnik is the beautiful Church of the Immaculate Conception with its bell tower. It was erected in the mid-18th century but with a detached belfry that shows an earlier church’s Gothic origins.
Lake Bohinj may be the lesser-known lake in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia, when compared to Lake Bled. However, Bohinj is just as beautiful and much more tranquil than its neighbor. The Church of St John the Baptist sits on the southeast side of lake right by the stone bridge.
Slovenia is a country full of Myths and Legends. On the shore of Lake Bohinj stands the slender, dark bronze statue of the Golden Horn (Goldenhorn / Zlatorog) – the magical stag believed to guard the ridges around Lake Bohinj.
Lake Bled is a must to visit if you are in Slovenia. It’s a charming glacial lake, surrounded by a ring of mountains of the Slovenian Alps. An attractive medieval castle sits atop a high rocky outcrop. And in the middle of the lake, there’s a tiny island with a church.
To reach the island in the middle of Lake Bled you take a trip with a Pletna boat – the traditional boat unique to Lake Bled which is operated by the Pletna oarsman who rows standing up.
Lake Slivnisko Jezero is a lovely lake located in the eastern part of Slovenia near the town of Sentjur. It is a wonderful spot for fishing, various water activities and picnics.
Lake Pernica is an artificial lake located between the villages of Vosek and Vukovje in the Styria region of Slovenia. Because of its natural beauty, Pernica provides great opportunities for hiking, cycling and fishing.
An extremely scenic spot rich with natural beauty, Lake Pernica is very popular among Slovenian landscape photographers.
The Drava River offers water sports enthusiasts many recreational activities including sailing, rowing, sail and surfing.
River Kolpa represents the border between Slovenia and Croatia. It’s less known but extremely beautiful and relatively clean river with more than 50 small dams.
The Velika planina, loosely translated as Great Highlands, is one of the highest plateaus in Slovenia, with an average elevation of around 1,665 meters. It is considered to be the most beautiful alpine pasture in Slovenia, where traditional dairy farmers graze their cattle between June and September, and the pastures are scattered with around 60 traditional shepherds’ huts which are unique to the area. Velika planina can be reached either on foot or by cable car, which operates all year round.
Located in the heart of the Kamnik Savinja Alps (very close to the border with Austria), the Logar valley is one of the most beautiful and most frequently portrayed Alpine glacial valleys in Europe. The entrance into the valley itself is breathtaking, as you drive past meadows on a winding road with stunning views of the majestic mountains of the Kamnik Savinja Alps. The valley was declared a Landscape Park in 1987.
Slovenia’s second largest city Maribor is lodged in the wonderful nature of wine growing hills on the one side and the Pohorje mountain range on the other, with the river Drava wending its way through it.
Another beautiful view of the city of Maribor.
Maribor’s City Park is considered to be one of the most beautiful city parks in Europe. It’s a lovely place to take a stroll, or just relax and enjoy the calm nature. It’s especially picturesque in the autumn.
The beautiful countryside road leading to the village of Recica Ob Savinji in the Styria region of Slovenia. Since traffic is light, most village roads in Slovenia are very pleasant for cycling.
The region of Ljutomer – Ormoz
is one of the most important wine regions in Slovenia and provides perfect conditions for growing grapes.
The Slovene Hills or Slovene Vineyards are the largest hilly region in the northeastern part of Slovenia (bordering with Austria). As the name suggests, this is the land of wine, vineyards and wine cellars.
When the wind blows, a very unusual sound can be heard over the Slovene Hills vineyards. The persistent rattling comes from small windmill-like contraptions on tall wooden polls, which have become a symbol of that part of Slovenia.
The Pyramid hill vineyard above the city of Maribor beautifully lit up with Christmas lights.
Maribor is the wine capital of Slovenia and the home of the Old Vine, the oldest grapevine on Earth, as certified by Guinness World Records. At 440 years old, the Old Vine has survived war, fire and pestilence, and still produces fat bunches of red Zametovka grapes. Among the most colorful ceremonies in Maribor is the harvesting of the Old Vine. It produces between 35 and 55 kg of grapes per vintage. This is enough fruit to make around 25 liters of wine that gets bottled in small 250 ml bottles and given by the city council of Maribor as ceremonial gifts to dignitaries (popes, presidents, emperors, etc).
The Old Vine grows on the Old Vine House in Lent, the oldest part of Maribor, Slovenia’s wine-loving second city, in the north-east of the country. The vine is given a lot of tourist promotional protocol events – the most famous and most popular is definitely the Vine’s grape harvest – the highlight of the traditional Old Vine Festival which is held every year at the end of September.
Hidden underneath the centre of Maribor, the Vinag wine cellar is one of the biggest classical wine cellars in Europe. It was build in the middle of 19th century and stretches some 2,5 kilometres underground. The oldest bottle comes from the year 1946, everything earlier was drank during the World War II.
The interesting architecture of the Railway Bridge in Maribor.
The Maribor stadium is considered as one of the most beautiful smaller stadiums in Europe.
The historic building of the University of Maribor, which is the second biggest and the second oldest university in Slovenia.
A field of sunflowers can brighten anyone’s day!
Slovenia is one of the smallest countries in Europe, but it’s the only European Union member state to have protected its native bee, the Carniolan bee. It has good conditions for beekeeping and a great beekeeping tradition. Bees are still evenly populated across the entire territory of Slovenia and thus help to maintain the balance in nature.
In the spring, farmers in the Alpine Mountain Region of Slovenia bring their cows to the pastures, where the cows graze in fresh mountain air, eating a nutrient-rich grasses and enjoying more free space.
Beautiful horses grazing on green pastures are a common sight that a traveler through Slovenia is sure to notice.
View of the beautiful landscape of the Loznica Hills and the village of Andraz nad Polzelo. The local parish church is dedicated to Saint Andrew and was first mentioned in written documents dating to 1229. The core of the current church is Gothic and dates to around 1400.
An absolutely breathtaking view of the Kamnica village and its St. Urban’s church on a misty morning.
A beautiful winter landscape with the church of the Holy Spirit in Podolseva, one of the highest mountain villages in Slovenia that stretches under Mount Olseva, a ridge mountain in the eastern part of the Karawanks near the border with Austria.
The Kamnik Savinja Alps as seen on a hike to the Olseva mountain near the entrance of the Potocka Zijalka cave.
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