The Old Vine of Maribor

What is the one thing that definitely sets Maribor apart from any other city? It is the vine that grows by the river Drava, which flows through the city. It is the oldest existing noble vine on the planet, growing for more than 400 years over the façade of a building from the 16th century.


Not only is it growing, it still bears grapes that are gathered at the Old Vine Festival every year (the festival takes place at the begining of October). A few hundred bottles are filled with Žametna Črnina wine and given as gifts of the city protocol. Among others, Pope John Paul II, the Japanese Emperor Akihito and American President Bill Clinton have received them as gifts.
The vine is ritually pruned in spring and scions from it are presented as gifts to other cities around the world.

A very important day

Today (June 25) is a national state holiday and a work-free day - Statehood Day (Dan državnosti). We commemorate on this day the country's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. It is the day on which the initial acts regarding independence were passed. After Slovenia's independence declaration the Ten-Day War followed, which was at the same time the first massive armed conflict in the heart of Europe after WWII - ending in victory by the Slovenian Territorial Defence Forces against the Yugoslav army.

On this day it is appropriate to tell something more about the National symbols. I found the data regarding national symbols on the Government communication office site.


Source: Crt

The national anthem is the seventh stanza of the France Prešeren poem Zdravljica (A Toast).
Listen to the anthem

The Slovenian flag consists of three colours that are in the following order: white, blue and red. Each colour occupies one third of the width of the flag. On the upper lefthand portion of the flag the national coat of arms is located such that the top half of the shield covers the white stripe while the lower half covers the blue stripe. The proportions of the width of the flag to the length are of one to two.

The national coat of arms of Slovenia is a shield in the middle of which, on a blue background, is a representation of Mount Triglav in white, under which are two undulating blue lines which represent the sea and rivers and above which are located three golden, six-pointed stars forming a downward-pointing triangle. The shield is bordered in red.