Ptuj – Ormož Regional Museum

Housed since 1926 in the Dominican Monastery at Ptuj, Ptuj Regional Museum is a public institution that looks after the cultural heritage of the Lower Drava region. It comprises archaeological, ethnological, cultural, educational, restoration and history sections, a library, and an additional unit in Ormož.

The first museum in Ptuj was the open-air Povoden Museum, created in 1830 by curate Simon Povoden. However, the origins of Ptuj Regional Museum can be traced back Museum to the Museum Society, established in 1893 by members of the Tourist Society of Ptuj with the aim of preventing the transfer of valuable excavated archaeological material from Ptuj to Graz or Vienna. The Society's first collection, stored in the premises of the grammar school in present-day Prešernova Street, originally comprised only archaeological objects, but in 1895 Professor Franz Ferk donated his extensive private collection, consisting of museum objects of various types. As a result of this valuable donation, the museum was renamed the Municipal Ferk Museum. The museum's collections were cramped in the grammar school, so in 1926 the Municipality bought the former Dominican Monastery which had been dissolved by Joseph II's reforms of 1786. The premises were renovated and two years later they were occupied by the museum's collections.

In 1945 the museum was entrusted with the management of the Ptuj Castle complex of buildings, in which the furnishings of the last owners - the Herbersteins - had been preserved almost completely. The library and archives became independent institutions in 1954 and 1955 respectively, while the museum extended the geographical scope of its activities and was renamed the Regional Museum Ptuj in 1963. Today the museum covers the wider area of Ptuj and Ormož.

The permanent collection installed at Ptuj Castle incorporates exhibitions on feudal dwelling culture, arms, musical instruments, Shrovetide masks, glass paintings and the France Mihelič graphics collection. Works of international significance displayed here include the world-famous statues of St Barbara and St Katarina (1410) from Velika Nedelja Castle, which belong to the group of sculptural works from the 'Ptujska gora workshop', which created several masterpieces in the International Gothic style; the Brussels (scenes from the Odyssey) and French (Verdure) tapestries of the early and late 17th century respectively; and the famous ‘Turqueries’ paintings commissioned by Johann Josef Herberstein after his return from a diplomatic mission to Constantinople in 1666.

In 1899 and 1914, the sites of Mithras Shrine I in Spodnja Hajdina and Mithras Shrine III in Zgornji Breg, respectively, were arranged for presentation. By 1987 archaeologists had discovered evidence of five Mithras Shrines; however Mithras Shrines I and III are still the favourites with visitors.

The Museum also manages two galleries - Mihelič Gallery, Ptuj and Art Salon, Ptuj, as well as numerous cultural heritage sites, including the Ptuj Castle (in which the museum is located), the Dominican Monastery at Ptuj, the Povoden Museum, the Old Prisons, Mithras Shrine I in Spodnja Hajdina, Mithras Shrine III in Zgornji Breg, and the Roman Brickworks Kiln at Ptuj. The other related monuments in the region are: Orpheus Memorial, Ptuj, the National Liberation Movement Collection, Središče ob Dravi and Velika Nedelja Castle, Ptuj.

Ptuj – Ormož Regional Museum

See also

Artists' colonies

Branch museums

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