The Ribnik valley hides the only Croatian lowland castle. The old Ribnik castle, the original Wasserburg, had been used as a defense against the enemies since the thirteenth century. Right next to the castle there is a spring, the source of the Obrh stream, whose water used to fill the defensive moat. The burg would thus, in case of danger, become an unconquerable island. The magnificent building still hides some secret halls, hidden dungeons and closed mystical passages. Be brave and explore them!
If exploring the old castle isn’t enough to start up your adrenaline, in Ribnik you will also find a motocross circuit, as well as the schedule of races and freestyle motocross shows. Is this enough for noisy and fast attraction lovers? If the thunder of the motorcycle engines is too much for you, then maybe you will like the buzzing of the bees and everything else that you can discover about them if you take a walk along the Honey route of the Ribnik valley, the first educational route dedicated to honey in Croatia.
You will get a beautiful view of everything Ribnik is hiding if you climb the 538 metres tall Vodenica hill. Lying in the meadow on top of Vodenica will make you wonder how the peak got its name (voda means water in Croatian), since there is no water, no springs or streams around. If you imagine the local people living in the area in the past, when there were periods of droughts, they would often look up to the hill, looking for rain clouds. And during the periods when there was no water (in Croatian “vode ni”), Vodenica was still giving some hope that it would eventually rain.
In summer, you can visit the Bogovci village and take a swim there. In autumn, you can go looking for mushrooms and chestnuts. Late spring offers real meadow carpets full of wild strawberries on the slopes above Ribnik. In winter, you can track the wild animals in the snow or just take a sled and let the child hidden inside you have fun in the snow. And when you get tired, the warm and cozy atmosphere of the rustically decorated Heart of Nature (Srce prirode) estate in Gorica Lipnička will already be waiting to welcome you. You deserve to take a break under the old linden tree, with some homemade tea and a strudel.
Are you dreaming of a romantic wedding and a carriage taking the newlyweds from the castle to the old hiža (an old traditional house) on the Ribnik estate, where a dinner of homemade specialties is waiting to be served? It need not be just a dream
