Municipalities

The region of Koroška consists of 12 municipalities, spread over the three valleys: the Mislinja, the Meža and the Drava valley.

Slovenj Gradec
Slovenj Gradec is the administrative, economic and cultural center of the Mislinja valley and home to the only city municipality in the region of Koroška. The earliest mention of this town goes back to the 11th century. The shelter between Uršlja gora and the nearby Pohorje offers the town a pleasant position. It gives you a feeling of the old and modern culture and architecture. The excessive and disproportionate industrial development, that hit the majority of Slovenian cities, was spared to Slovenj Gradec.
The traces of a long history are seen in two churches: St. Elisabeth Church (from romanticism to baroque) and the Church of Holy Spirit, a formal hospital church (Špitalska cerkev). Painters as Mersi, Scholz, Strauss are known throughout Slovenia. Furthermore, the composer Hugo Wolf was born here in a baroque house. The City Hall is also home the the Karel Pečko Gallery of Fine Arts with a great collection of modern arts.
Numerous events and exhibitions resulted as an eminent title, honored by the the UN in 1989, Herald of Peace.
Municipality consists of 22 settlements with a population of 17.000 and an area of 174 km2.
More: www.slovenj-gradec.si

Ravne na Koroškem
Ravne na Koroškem is the administrative, economic and cultural center of the Mežica valley. It is located is the lower part the Meža river, under the mighty Mt Uršlja. The city, known for its century-long steel and iron industry, was named Guštanj up to the WWII. It is a town of ironworkers, steel sculptures and a wealth of literary property. While rich finds of the Central Carinthian Library bear witness of cultural development, interesting museum collections tell about the history of ironwork. In Kotlje they annually devote attention to publicising the Kuhar brothers, and on the sunny Preški Vrh there is the Prežih shack, consolidating the memory of the most known of the Kuhar brothers, the writer Lovro Kuhar – Prežihov Voranc. There is Ivarčko jezero lake under the wide Mt Uršlja welcoming you in summer and the snowy hillsides of the Ošven ski slopes in winter. In Ravne there is a modern sports center with two halls, an Olympic and an indoor swimming pool, a modern athletic stadium, sauna, fitness and numerous play courts.

The municipality consists of 16 settlements with population of 12.200 and an area of 63 km2. More: www.ravne.si

Dravograd
The community is the geographical centre of three valleys: the Meža, the Mislinja and the upper Drava valley. It is located in the northern part of Slovenia, bordering Austria. It is surrounded by the woods of Strojna in the west, Kozjak in the north and the Pohorje mountain range in the south. Košenjak is the highest summit in the municipality with its 1522m above sea level. The transit character of the city has resulted in a rich trade and industry, located in the economic zone on the confluence of the Meža and Mislinja river in Otiški Vrh that does not harm the natural heritage.
Dravograd market is one of the oldest, mention as early as 1185 as the Traberch market, the biggest and the most important medieval market in Slovenia. The views of the market with the old ruins is the same as in the olden days; typical attached, architecturally interesting houses, with the living room in the upper floors and the shops, restaurants and workshops in the ground floor. There are two centers in Dravograd, with one on each side of the Drava river, the private and the public one: the Traberg business and sports center with a hotel in the city center and the Meža trade and business center by the train and bus station. The municipality consists of 24 settlements with a population of 8.800 and an area of 105 km2. More: www.dravograd.si.

Prevalje
Prevalje is a bording municipality with the Meža river crossing the center of the town. The history of Prevalje, the principal town of the Prevalje community, is at the same time the history of ironwork, as the ironworks of this town was, until its abolishment, the most important in this part of Europe. The community is also prouding itself with its rich history of civilization, with Roman stones found in Zagrad, with two prodigious Gothic churches at Leše, with an exceptional technical monument – Štoparjev most bridge – and with the fact that here once was the headquarters of the Mohorjeva družba company of Prevalje. Tourists should not leave out visiting the tourist village of Šentanel and the scene of the last battles of World War II in Europe – Poljana. In town there are many restaurants and pubs. The Slovenian reading badge started in the Elementary school of Prevalje and is today a real Slovenian cultural characteristic. The municipality has a population of 6.600 and an area of 58,1 km2. More: www.prevalje.si.

Radlje ob Dravi
It is located in the center of the Drava valley, between Dravograd and Maribor, on border to Austria with the beautiful landscape and the height of 371m above sea level. It is surrounded by the hills of Kozjak on one side and the magnificent woods of the Pohorje range on the other. It was first mentioned in 850. The valley around this area gets wider, therefore, the general conditions for a industry development are excellent. Despite all the changes, the town had kept its original market image, even though there have been some renovations. For the neighboring towns and villages the city presents an important business center. The wide hop plantations give the city a special touch. The population of the city comprises of 6.300. The municipality covers an area of 93,2 km2. More: www.obcina-radlje.si.

Mislinja
The Mislinja municipality is located in the upper part of the Mislinja valley between the mountain ranges: Paški Kozjak, Pohorje and Graška grapa. The most attractive among the natural characteristics is definitely the Huda luknja gorge with a cave of the same name. It was formed by the Ponikva creek. Surrounding hills are covered with churches and ruins of the former mighty castels as Hirschenstein in Valdek. A random traveller might think of Mislinja, the principal town of the Mislinja municipality, as no more than a town with a church and a few houses by the main road, but actually, it is a fusion of five former settlements. The development of the town is connected to its position on the antique road Celeia–Colatio–Virunum, which enabled the trade, the transport and the ironworks to blossom. The ironworks in Mislinja started already in 1724. Visitors today admire the churches of St. Lenart and St. Ahac as well as the Robnik forge and the archeological finds in Dovže- Villa Rustica. The locals are proud on the fact that a painter Jože Tisnikar was born here. The town has a population of 4.800 and it covers an area of 112,2 km2. More www.mislinja.si

Mežica
The urban town of Mežica was given a status of a city in 1983 and is the geographical center of the Mislinja valley. It is located 491m above sea level ob the confluence of the Meža river and the Šumec creek. The Karavanke mountain range ends here and the landscape slowly gets calmer, more peaceful and lower in the Drava region. Mežica used to be a mining lead center, however, this cannot be seen rom its today’s image. The surrounding fields and wild woods with mountain summits in the background create an image of a quiet settlement and a smaller Alpine tourist center. A special value is given to the town by its beautiful nature with the Alpine scenery of the Peca mountain, the home of the legendary King Matjaž. Mt Peca, ski slopes, the Peca underground, which is turned into a tourist mine and museum, and excellent cuisine enable a visitor a pleasant stay. The population of Mežica is 3.900 and it covers an area of 26,4 km2. More www.mezica.si

Muta
The Muta community lies in a natural cradle between the mountainous area of Golica, Kobansko, the Drava river and the Slovenian-Austrian border. The natural heritage is seen in the numerous water springs that have enormously enriched this area. The town is especially known for its round church of St. John the Baptist (Cerkec Sv. Janeza Krstnika) that is due to its shape a unique architectural monument in Slovenia. Furthermore, the ecological chapel of Franc Asišek with a 23m high Sedelnik fall, which is the highest waterfall in the Kozjak mountain range, present a big attraction. The area of Sv. Jernej is popular for its giant lime trees, the widest in Slovenia.
Muta has a population of 3.700 and an area of 38,8 km2. More: www.muta.si

Črna na Koroškem

Črna na Koroškem is a picturesque, lovely settlement in the Mežica valley on the crossroads of a road leading to Šoštanj and the other one, leading towards Koprivna. It was first mentioned in 1137. 100 years of ironworks played an important role in its development. We traces of ironworks can be seen until the end of the 19 century. Črna kas developed from a village with its constant growth to a trade environment. The town with its market image and friendly people are worth visiting. Every year loads of people gather in Črna for a special winter event – to build or just to look at the mighty snow and ice castles. With črna it is definitely worth mentioning their skiing club that has considerably contributed to the Slovene skiing culture with some of the famous skiers, as Mitja Kunc, Aleš Gorza in Tina Maze. Črna na Koroškem covers an area of 156 km2, and a population of 3.600. More: www.crna.si


Vuzenica
Vuzenica is located under the foothills of the Pohorje mountain range, on the right Drava bank. It is distinguished as one of the oldest towns in the Drava valley. The settlement is to be found in the basin by the bed of the Drava river and its affluent Cerkvenica.
Raftsmen once used to start their rafts in Vuzenica, and the carriers used to load their freight here lively. Numerous fairs were also very vivacious in the olden days. Remains of the old castle bear witness of the former fame of Vuzenica, as well as the parish church of St. Nicholas (sv. Nikolaj). Among its parish priests was also the poet and waker of the national awareness Anton Martin Slomšek. There is a possibility for wonderful fall walks around the nearby Dravče and Šentjanž nad Dravčami. The views of the Pohorje mountain range are fantastic, even more magnificent are the views from the summit of the valley. The municipality has a population of 2.800 and an area of 50,1 km2. More: www.vuzenica.si

Podvelka
Podvelka, the principal town of a new community, is an interesting settlement on the right Drava bank. In the past this town only served as a home to forestry workers who prepared the alluvial wood for sale. It gained on importance with the acquisition of the railway station where they started to load the Pohorje rock tonalit, wood and wood products. The uninhabited neighbouring hill slopes are nowadays a paradise for visitors looking for peace, freshness of nature and pure forest air. These beauties can be experienced on Janževski vrh, Javnik and Lehen na Pohorju. The tourists especially appreciate woodrafting along the Drava river, as well as church of St.John (Sv.Janez) on Janževski vrh which is known for its extraordinary strong positive energy with healing effects.
The municipality has a population of 2.700 and it covers an area of 103,9 km. More: www.podvelka.si

Ribnica na Pohorju
Ribnica na Pohorju is the principal mountainous town with 715m above sea level. In the Roman era a road from Slovenjske Konice up the Drava valley was running through the town. The town is surrounded by the vast and dark woods of Pohorje, therefore, people here have always been occupied with forestry and saw mills as well as stockbreeding. Today Ribnica is an idyllic climate tourist village with bungalows, ski slopes and well developed farm tourism. It is also a pleasant starting point for mountain paths towards Ribniška koča and Jezerski vrh.
Ribnica consists of 6 settlements, with less than 1.300 inhabitants and an area of 59,3 km2. More: www.ribnicanapohorju.si.