In the central European area, it is very common to set an Advent or Christmas market. In our Grandparents time, it was traditional to give children gifts on December 6, St. Nicolas’s Day.

Namely, there is the legend that says St Nicolas as a rich man was a very generous man. One night he heard crying father who could not marry his three daughters because he was to poor. Nicolaus as a warm-hearted man felt very sorry for them so during the night he threw through their Chimney three balls of gold.

Protestants turned away from the Catholic veneration of saints and saint’s days; they told their children that "Holy Christ" had brought their presents. This is the reason why in most of European cities Christmas markets are called »Christkindlmarkt«.

Since we were a part of a communism there were no figures from the Bible, but we made up a »Father Frost« who laid us gifts under the »New year's tree«.

And today? Now we call 4 weeks before Christmas an Advent and in this period we have a chance to do shopping in the name »of three good men.«

Ljubljana was shortlisted alongside – Essen, Nijmegen, Oslo and Umeå. Each city was shortlisted for the award in its own unique way and the Jury had a tough challenge in selecting an overall winner from such a high standard of applicants.

St Martin's Day - MARTINOVO

St. Martin's Day is a holiday, particularly dear to us - Slovenians. It is our one of the most popular and merry time. It was even proposed to make it a public holiday

Slovenia has a long tradition as a wine-producing country. The most beautiful parts of Slovenia are three wine-producing areas: Primorska, Posavje and Podravje with their 14 wine districts. In Slovenia's second largest city Maribor, grows even the world's oldest wine.

Every year, on November 11, according to tradition, unfermented grape juice turns into wine. How so? By legend St Martin performed the same feat as Jesus Christ by transforming water into wine. Being able to do that, made him the patron saint of the celebrations of the fermenting of wine.

St Martin of Tours was born in today’s Hungary and was a soldier (by his father's will) who served the Roman army. After some unhappy time and some fulfilling events (like sharing his coat with a homeless man), he decided to become a monk. He ran a very modest life. The legend says, he did not want to accept the role of a bishop. He went away into a village and hid into a barn. Geese with their loud noise betrayed him and eventually became a bishop. Nowadays, this story gives us a good reason to make a very tasty meal: roasted goose or a duck spiced up with steamed red cabbage with chestnuts and mlinci-Slovenian pasta.

Slovenia has three wine regions and the most eastern one surprises us with its uniqueness!

This time we would like to present to you the place, which is situated along the Slovenian Croatian border, a good hour from the Slovenian capital Ljubljana towards East.

This is a Bizeljsko Wine region where they keep their best wines in a unique storage halls- repnice. Repnice have a long tradition and today they are a part of a special local cultural heritage!

Slovenia is a country with a very diverse landscape, plenty of woods and meadows. Therefore, it is somehow obvious that also the fruits of its nature are quite common. One of the oldest Slovenian traditions is production of honey.

The essential sources in honey production are nectar and honeydew. Bees carry these materials to the hive and modify them by adding glandular secretions and condensing this mixture. Honey is produced in this process, which is then stored in the comb cells by closing the cells with a wax cover. To our climate, cold winters and hot summers, over the millennia particularly adapted Carniolan honeybee (Apis mellifera carnica).