Otočec Castle 

With the Krka river on its one side next to the digged channel on its other makes Otočec the only artificial castle island in Slovenia. We stopped by in the hot summer of 2018.

It was a hot summer and we already had some fine days behind us in Germany as well as Slovenia in places like Muta ob Dravi and Celje to move on to Autokamp Slapić near Duga Resa in Croatia but not without a nice stop here at Castle Otočec.

Parts of the castle date back to the middle of the 13th century. In 1942, during the 2nd World War the castle was burned down. In 1957 the decision was made about the construction of the Ljubljana - Zagreb highway. Since the castle is halfway, it was restored and used by the leadership of the youth work brigade for offices and a restaurant. The highway was built by 54.000 young people in between spring and the end of November 1958, so completed in less than 9 months. The day after the opening of the highway, the Otočec tourist company was set up and took over the castle and its inventory. Since the early sixties it is a hotel and nowadays the Relais & Châteaux Hotel Grad Otočec has five stars and 16 rooms. Ànd there is a campsite at the other side of the castle. 

We didn't sleep in the hotel nor even had coffee or stayed on the campsite. Maybe, Kim and I will marry one another, then this is a place to keep in mind.

In the surroundings of the Castle there are some plates with texts that tell the history of the hotel.