Dornava Manor with the Orangery

The Baroque Dornava Manor near Ptuj, a free-standing two-storey palace with side wings, appearing as if cast from a single mold, stands on the flatlands of the Ptuj Field by the Pesnica River. The manor has a longer developmental history, as can be read from its façades. It is presumed that a smaller manor already stood on the site in the Middle Ages. Its owners were the Lords of Ptuj and later the Herberstein family.

After 1700, the Counts of Sauer built a Baroque manor on the estate, which forms the basis of the present structure. The manor’s representative rooms on the upper floor were decorated with paintings. The ambitious Waginger frescoes in the main hall depict the wedding of Hercules and his heroic deeds, also documented in the photographic album under discussion. Also recorded are the large and small drawing rooms, both adorned with painted wallpapers inspired by Lancret’s motifs.

The Counts of Attems purchased the estate and manor. Between 1753 and 1755, at the initiative of Joseph Thaddäus Attems, the manor was rebuilt and enhanced, especially its portals and other representative features. The construction work was carried out according to plans prepared by the master builder Joseph Hueber.

Dornava Manor is set along the axis of a tree-lined avenue, complemented in front of the main entrance by a forecourt and, behind the building, by a park that fans out from a roundabout with a Neptune fountain. The starting point of the layout is a statue of the Immaculate Virgin (to whom the castle chapel is also dedicated), while the endpoint was, a kilometre and a half behind the manor, a statue of St. John of Nepomuk. The symbolic terminal points of the park even included the churches in Polenšak and Destrnik, confirming that this is the largest Baroque complex in Slovenia.

Exceptional features of the exterior design include, on one side, the reworked forecourt with citrus trees but with preserved ornamental fence details, and on the other, the aforementioned roundabout with the Neptune fountain, statues of dwarfs, and philosophers.

In 1820, the manor passed into the ownership of the Princes of Auersperg. By the late 19th century, the family had invested heavily in the gardens of their estates: grand chestnut avenues grew in Dornava and Dolenjske Toplice, and lavish orchards surrounded Šrajbarski Turn. Between the two world wars, the Pongratz family took over the estate. After the Second World War, the property was managed by a tank brigade, followed by work brigades and children affected by the war.

Curators managed to save some of the furniture and wall decorations, transferring them to the Ptuj and National Museums. Conservators maintained the roofs and façades, and restored sculptural decorations on the façades and partially in the garden. They prepared detailed analyses of the building structures and paintings. The manor is accessible on foot, by bicycle, or by car.

The Orangery stands on the northeastern side of the Dornava Manor park.

Orangeries are very rare in Slovenia, more common in Central Europe, and originate from France. Since the 17th century, these glass-fronted buildings were intended for storing and overwintering citrus trees and other plants exotic to Central Europe. The renovated orangery of Dornava Manor has been restored to its original purpose, while also serving as a venue for cultural events.

The renovation of the orangery lasted one year, with the total investment — including interior furnishings provided by the Ministry of Culture — amounting to more than €1.2 million. Dornava Manor, with its park design, forms an indivisible whole and is one of the most important Baroque complexes in Slovenia. An essential part of the park were also the two orangeries along the central park axis, beyond which the path continued to the Pesnica River, more than a kilometre away.