Novi Klošter (monastery/mansion)
Neukloster

15th century

"Novi klošter" monastery (along with a church) was completed in 1452 after three years of construction. It was inhabited by Dominican monastery order, which was verified a year later by a founding document. In 1479 the monastery was attacked by Turks who used a church for a stable and demolished its inside. General vicar of Ljubjana, Boštjan, summoned religious people and asked them to help fortify the monastery to be safe from eventual new attacks. It seems that the monastery was uninhabited and abandoned between 1479 and 1492. Hundred years later, in 1593, patriarch Francesco Barbaro from Oglej reported that the monastery is protected by brothers and servants like a fortress because of previous Turkish attacks. In 1635 the monastery was severely damaged by rebelled peasants. In 1690 the front tract of the monastery was built by prior Tomaž Bucelleni.
In 1745 the monastery was struck by lightning. The church was burned to the ground, bell tower collapsed, the fire destroyed all the roofs and a third of convent buildings. In the next few years the monastery was restored. Bell tower was built allready in 1746 and in 1754 a new great altar was built.
On June 19th 1787 the monastery was dissolved by decree from court and was afterwards managed by clerks from provincial chamber and in 1820 it was sold by government along with the estate to Jakob Brezic. Successor Jožef Oesterlein demolished the monastery church of "Our dear lady" and rebuild the monastery building. Great altar (from 1750) and a statue of Mary (from 3120) were transfered to the parish church of St.Peter. In its place a present chapel of St.Dominic was build in 1831. Until World War II the monastery was in private posession, but many owners has exchanged.

The building nowadays barely resembles a former monastery. Wings which now surround irregular, but big, courtyard are two-storeys high in west and north part. In eastern single-storey wing once an outbuilding was located. In southern wing which holds to a chapel garages are now located. Northern wing serves as an appartment, also western wing, but some quarters are allready abandoned there. Surroundings of the monastery was once arranged into a park, where various kinds of trees were growing. Many of trees were cut down by Germans during World War II, but some remained: beech tree, japanese quince tree, spanish elder tree, american cypress, Coast Douglas-fir, robinia, green pine tree and others.

A tombstone of two Romans was excavated on a field at Novi klošter, which was later moved to Vrbje and now it is in Pokrajinski muzej in Celje (museum).

Mansion was sold to Zavod Tromostovje on November 2010 for 0,5 milion EUR. Investitor will renovate the mansion into a modern congress center by 2015 (investment worth 2 milion EUR).

Literature:
Stopar, Ivan, Dr.: "Grajske stavbe v vzhodni Sloveniji - Spodnja Savinjska dolina", Založba Park, Ljubljana, 1992, ISBN /
Contact details:
OBčINA POLZELA
POLZELA 11
3313 POLZELA
Slovenia
tel: +386 (0)3-703–32-00
Web links:
Municipality of Polzela
Shows and entertainment:
/
GPS coordinates:
N 46° 17.203' E 15° 6.223'

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South side of mansion with a chapel
View from north
View from easter direction through the forest
Front of the chapel at southern wing
Western facade with visible very neo-gothic elements
Western passage to the courtyard
Arcades on the western courtyard wall
South side of the courtyard, where a younger conjunctional building is visible in the middle at the chapel
Inside of the younger conjunctional building at the chapel
Former outbuilding at the eastern wing
West wall of eastern wing with colorful structure of the wall
Modest insides of the chapel
Courtyard; a preserved well is visible
Southern portal, which leads through a shorter corridor (passing by washrooms/toilets?) to a courtyard
Demolished and overgrown inside of the western wing
Round defence tower on the north-west corner of the structure; nowadays without arrow loops and other fortification elements
G. M. Vischer, Novi klošter; copper engraving from Book of castles, from around 1681


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