Celje is Slovenia's third-largest city, set on the Savinja River in the Savinja Basin about an hour's drive northeast of Ljubljana. The Romans knew it as Celeia, and the city's history stretches back further still — but its greatest period came in the 14th and 15th centuries under the Counts of Celje, the most powerful feudal dynasty in the Slovenian lands, whose ambitions reached all the way to the Holy Roman Imperial throne before the dynasty died out in 1456.
Celje Castle — the Old Castle on the hill above the city — is the most visible legacy of that era and one of the largest medieval fortifications in Slovenia. The views from the ramparts are worth the 20-minute walk up. In the city centre, the reconstructed Counts' Palace houses the Regional Museum, which includes a remarkable Roman-era Celje Ceiling — painted plaster panels from the 1st century AD discovered during building renovations, considered among the finest examples of Roman decorative painting north of the Alps. Stari Pisker, the former prison built into the medieval town walls, and St. Daniel's Cathedral complete the historical circuit of the old town.
Celje is a working city rather than a tourist showpiece, which gives it an honest, unhurried feel. The pedestrianised old town has good cafés and restaurants, and the Savinja riverbank is pleasant for an evening stroll. About 11 km west, the Šempeter Roman Necropolis is one of the finest and least-visited Roman sites in the country — four monumental family tombs reconstructed in an open-air park beside the river.