MojaSlovenija.si
In the village of Soteska on the Krka River in the municipality of Dolenjske Toplice stand the ruins of Soteska Manor, built between 1664 and 1689 at the order of Count Jurij Žiga Gallenberg, the provincial governor of Carniola. The manor was designed in the shape of a four‑leaf clover, a rarity in Slovenian architecture. Next to it, a landscaped park was arranged with a garden pavilion known as the Devil’s Tower. On the opposite bank of the Krka, the ruins of Old Soteska, the original 13th‑century castle, are still visible today.
Soteska Manor in year 1943 (www.mojaslovenija.si, lastne panoramske fotografije + stare upodobitve + generativna AI(UI) )
The original owners of the estate were the Scheyr family, who later died out. Their property was inherited by the Counts of Gallenberg, who completed the construction of the manor and turned it into a representative residence. Above the main portal were marble coats of arms of the Gallenberg and Schrottenbach families, dated 1675, which are now kept in the Dolenjska Museum in Novo mesto.
During the Second World War, in 1943, the manor was set on fire by order of the partisan leadership, who wanted to prevent the occupying forces from using it as a military stronghold. The Slovenian painter and partisan Božidar Jakac pleaded that the manor should not be burned, as it was a valuable cultural monument, but his request was not granted. After the fire, the manor was plundered by locals and soldiers, which accelerated its decay. Although designed as a manor, locals still call it a castle.
The Devil’s Tower, a stone garden pavilion in the axis of the former park, was built in the 17th century as part of the Baroque landscaping. Its architecture is clover‑shaped, with two floors connected by a stone spiral staircase. The interior is richly decorated with illusionistic paintings: in the ground floor motifs of fountains and portals, on the vault the scene of Zeus abducting Ganymede, and in the upper floor painted colonnades and allegorical figures of Faith, Hope, and Love.
The name “Devil’s Tower” comes from folk tales. According to legend, the lords of the manor held debauched feasts there, which scandalized the peasants, who gave the tower its ominous name. Other stories mention the supposed “right of the first night” or demands that peasants bring their daughters if they could not pay taxes. These tales, however, are pure myth and the product of popular imagination, with no historical evidence to support them.
During the Second World War the Devil’s Tower was also damaged by fire, but later partially restored. Today it survives as a rare example of a Baroque garden pavilion in Slovenia. Its interior is occasionally used for concerts and weddings, as the tower has remarkable acoustics.
Today the remains of Soteska Manor have been partially cleaned and stabilized. Inside the walls, an event space has been arranged in the form of a Roman theatre, while in front of the manor lies a park with a fountain. Soteska Manor is registered as immovable cultural heritage and has the status of a monument of local importance. Its ruins, together with the Devil’s Tower, preserve the memory of one of the most beautiful Baroque residences in Slovenia and stand as a reminder of the region’s turbulent history.
