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Route 1: Tracing the Footsteps of Parzival the Knight

A one or two-day moderately difficult circular cycling route retracing the footsteps of the Knight Parzival.
Explore Parzival’s ancestral homeland of Styria (Štajerska) and uncover the secrets of the Holy Grail.

TOP ATTRACTIONS ON THE ROUTE

• Ptuj Castle
• Ptujska Gora
• Belojača Cave
• Boč
• Borl Castle

Download GPX

ROUTE

On day 1, head across Hajdina (Gandine) and Ptujska Gora to the Belojača Cave and discover the hollow in the rock where the wise hermit Trevrizent is said to have lived. Download the route for day 1.

On day 2, head to the Borl Castle, where the lords of Borl used the inverted anchor in their coat of arms as early as the 12th century. Download the route for day 2.

ATTRACTIONS ON THE ROUTE

• Ptuj Castle: The Ptuj Castle looks across the entire mighty land of Parzival’s ancestors. The author of the poem, Wolfram von Eschenbach, is said to have travelled through the land when the Ptuj Castle was managed by the powerful Lords of Ptuj.
• Tracing the footsteps of Parzival and his ancestors: Open-air exhibition (Town market)
• Confluence of Grajena and the gold-bearing Drava: As described in the poem, in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s time the Grajena Creek flowed into the gold-bearing Drava River between the Minorite Monastery and the Drava Tower, which today houses the Mihelič Gallery.
• Hajdina (Gandine): Parzival’s grandfather, Gandîn, was named after the town of Gandîne, today’s Hajdina, which, together with its surroundings, grew on the remains of the magnificent Roman Poetovio. This confirms that Parzival’s ancestors were closely connected with our region.
• Ptujska Gora: A pilgrimage destination with the Basilica of the Virgin Mary the Protector
• Rogatec: When Wolfram travelled through Štajerska, the Gornji Rogatec castle was already standing in Rogatec, and its ruins are still visible today. It was first mentioned in records in 1192, but was probably built in the 11th century.
• Belojača Cave: Based on the description of a hollow in the rock, where the sun rarely shines and a stream gurgles through, some associate Trevrizent’s hermitage with the Belojača Cave. The cave is located below Boč, in the present-day municipality of Makole.
“ … Then he went on until he came to Funtan’ la Salvatsch-the name of a dwelling where his course was bound: A host and greeting there he found.”
• Boč: There are many theories about the exact location of the Grail Castle (Munsalvaesche). The main thesis of Adolf Hytrek, a priest of the Studenice monastery in the late 19th century, is that the legendary Munsalvaesche Castle is located on the top of Boč.
• Studenice: In 1914, the Austrian writer Hans von Thal published a feuilleton in the Reichspost entitled Montsalwatch, in which he describes an encounter with Adolf Hytrek (1853–1899), the wise priest of the Studenice Monastery. During their conversation, it emerged that the priest was intensively researching the medieval poem Parzival and its connections with historically well-known places in southern Styria (Štajerska).
• Borl Castle: For Parzival’s father Gahmuret, an unrivalled knight in his time, the anchor was a symbol of steadfastness. Based on the description of the coat of arms, we can draw strong parallels with the arms of the Borl (Ankenstein) Castle. The inverted silver anchor (Anker) on red background was in the coat of arms of the Lords of Borl and Dranek in the 12th century, and the Lords of Ptuj adopted it after acquiring the Borl Castle in 1294.