Gewerkenegg Castle

Meet the odd one out of Slovenian castles!

The Gewerkenegg Castle is not your regular castle as there was never an aristocratic family who took home there. From the beginning of the 16th century to the end of WWII, the castle above the town housed the mine’s administration, while its well-build and guarded basements served also as a safe storage for the valuable mercury. Today, the Renaissance castle hosts the Idrija Municipal Museum exhibitions presenting the five hundred years of Idrija history: the story of technical achievements and their connections with the Spanish Almadén with the largest mercury mine in the world, of the wearisome mining work and of the refinement of the Idrija lace.