THE ROUTE TO MARJETA
Length
11.6
Length 11.6 km ​
Time needed
01:15
Time needed 01:15 ​
Največja strmina vzpona[%]
4
Greatest slope of the ascent: 4 %
Greatest slope of the descent: 4 %
Average slope of the ascent: 5 %
Length of ascents above 5%: 1.80 km
The lowest point of the route: 486 m
The highest point of the route: 312 m
Difference in altitude: 263 m
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Poraba kalorij
2546
Consumption of energy for men: 2546 kJ (608 kcal)
Consumption of energy for women: 2072 kJ (495 kcal)
​
Difficulty
Difficulty: Medium demanding ​
Quality of the surface
Quality of the surface: Mixture
Type of bike: Trek bike
​
Short description

A medium demanding, undulating, diverse and interesting cycling route leads from the confluence of the Sora and Sava rivers to the Church of. St. Margaret at Jeterbenk slope in the Polhov Gradec Hills. It is suitable for the entire family as the slopes (except for the shorter one to Marjeta) are not steep.
It runs along one of the most beautiful hilly landscapes in Slovenia. Beside the views, you can indulge yourself in observing the rich vegetation (mostly meadows with variety of meadow plants), cultural-historical peculiarities and work out as you cycle.
The route runs along less busy asphalt and macadam roads as well as cart tracks. The path from Medvode first leads to Preska and on to the narrow valley of Prešnica where you ascend to Žlebe and then to Marjeta. There you descend down the observational road among pastures into the valley to Seničica and over Bonovec and Preska back to Medvode.

Course

Medvode – Preska – Žlebe – Seničica – Bonovec - Preska - Medvode

Hitting the road from Medvode
The starting point of the route is the car park in front of the library and the town hall of Medvode. Hop on your bikes and cycle left from the car park over the Sorški most Bridge and just after it left to Seškova Road past the police station. Just before the end of the road turn right to the pedestrian level crossing with traffic lights, where you cross a very busy Gorenjska Road. Continue to the railroad where you cross an underpass and pass some warehouses and industrial facilities on the other side of the road towards Preska . At the crossroads at cemetery , turn right to Škofjeloška Road and soon after the fire station left, on the road to the valley of Prešnica which soon narrows so much that there is scarcely a place for a house. The narrow forest path , ascends along the stream towards Studenčice and to south.
Just before the end of the flat part of the valley where the road on the right starts ascending to Studenčice, turn left. This area is locally known as at Knavs' spruce, although the spruce is long gone. There is no signpost at this turn, thus, according to your instinct, turn left to the asphalt road which leads into the forest.

No need for signposts in Žlebe
Ascend left through the forest at first and turn sharply right at the grassy ridge and then up towards houses. You've arrived to Žlebe, a scattered settlement consisting of many hamlets (Stežica, Pristava, Kršlje) through which you'll cycle for next few kilometres. Across the meadow on the left, you'll see a transformer at the first house (nr. 77) where you turn left to the macadam road and then left again past the transformer. A nice view of the widespread village of Žlebe, Marjeta, Jeterbenk and woody as well as grassy hills of the Polhov Gradec Hills opens up on the right . Only ten minutes ago, you cycled in the city settlement and now you are already in the peaceful hilly village. Žlebe is known for their scarcity of signposts, so your orientation point for some time will be the Church of St. Margaret which you can see in front of you approximately halfway to the top of the hill. The path to there is not straightforward, as there are some ridges and valleys in between where few houses and farms are located among meadows, fields and orchards.
Cycle past two large hayracks, turn right after them and down the hill , then up along the sandy path and continue downhill between meadows and houses until you reach the next crossroads where you turn right to the asphalt road and up the slope to the sign.

Along the robber path to Marjeta
Before the sign turn right. The road under your bike soon becomes a macadam one and cart track later and it starts ascending past the houses and farms steeper and steeper up the hill. At the cart track you'll see the sign Path of the Robber Knights which leads to Jeterbenk and where an annual mass hike is organised by the local tourist society.
The path becomes more steeper and you'll have to paddle hard to stay on your bikes. After several minutes you'll get (heavily breathing) to the Church of St. Margaret and some old wooden-built houses beside it. There is a dragon's table with benches in front of the church where you can take a break and take a look at the valley . When the weather is clear, you can observe the Kamnik-Savinja Alps on the Ljubljana Basin the other side.
The dragon under the table is wooden, so it cannot vomit fire. However, it used to be alive and it frightened people in the vicinity of Jeterbenk, or at least that is what the folk tale says, which is also described below under peculiarities.
You are at the highest point of today's trip and the dragon will soon chase you back to the valley. Descend down the same cart track which you've ascended before and turn right at the second farm and across the fields downhill to Cvajnar farm . If you knock on their doors, this open-door farm will serve you beverages and home-made snacks.
Descend from Cvajnar farm down the macadam slope through the forest and to the valley of Potočnica and continue on the asphalt road to Seničica. Cycle to the village of Seničica and be mindful of the left turning amid the village, where you'll turn to the cart track below the hill and continue across the fields and meadows at Bonovec to Plečnik's chapel and past the insemination facility to Preska. If the weather is nice you can see all the way to the Julian Alps and Triglav from Bonovec while cycling. A famous Napoleon's Bridge over the Mavelščica can be seen some hundred metres ahead on the right, and little further Šmarna gora Hill. If you look a bit further over the villages on the other side of the Sava River, you can observe the Kamnik-Savinja Alps .
Turn left towards the school and the church of St. John the Baptist , then right after the school and descend past the parish downhill to the crossroads at the cemetery. You'll get to the part of the route which you've already cycled at the beginning. Cross Škofjeloška Road and cycle towards to an underpass under the railroad, and continue over Gorenjska Road at the pedestrian level crossing on the other side, then proceed left to Seškova Road past the police station, an inn, a pizza restaurant and towards the bridge over the Sora River. Only one right turn over the bridge and you'll reach the car park in front of the Medvode town hall and library where you started your trip. You can leave your bicycle here and take a relaxing walk along the Sora River, along the path past the library, and take a look at another natural landmark of Medvode. Some tens of metres ahead is the confluence of the Sora and Sava rivers , often visited by fishermen. Medvode (Between waters) got its name because of its location between the two rivers.
At the end of your trip in Medvode, numerous cafes and restaurants await for you to recharge your batteries.

Polhov Gradec Dolomites Landscape Park
Nature has endowed these places with forests with approximately the same share of coniferous and deciduous trees. There are plenty of beautiful meadows on the ridges, gradual slopes near the villages and in the valleys, which have preserved their biotic diversity due to less intensive farming.
Their characteristics are pointed dolomite summits which gave the hills their popular name – the Polhov Gradec Dolomites. In addition to dolomite, the ground composition also includes limestone, various impermeable rocks and a small share of volcanic rocks. As a larger joint surface, limestone occurs between Toško Čelo and Topol in the Ravnik Plateau, where karst phenomena can also be noticed. Among the peaks standing out among the steep rocky areas, Grmada (898 m) and Sv. Lovrenc (St. Lawrence) Mountain are the most famous.

Jeterbenk Castle
The castle of the Hertenberg knights, ministers of the Spanheims and the dukes of Carinthia, once stood on the Jeterbenk Hill (a non-standard word deriving from German Hertenberg). Ministers were members of lower nobility who performed military or administrative service for higher noblemen, and the Spanheims were those famous noblemen whose seat was at Ljubljana Castle and who first used the renowned coat of arms with a black climbing panther on white background; and some people wished for it to become the national symbol of the Republic of Slovenia. As the Spanheims had no descendants, the rule over their lands (including Carniola) was inherited by Ottokar II of Bohemia, who also adopted the aforementioned coat of arms. But not for long, as he was killed in a battle with the Habsburgs in Moravia, and the rule over this part of Slovenia was taken over by the Counts of Gorica who held it until 1335 when it was claimed by the Habsburgs. In written sources, Jeterbenk Castle was first explicitly mentioned in 1252 and in 1444 for the last time when it had already been abandoned. In the 14th century, the original tower building on the top of the hill was replaced by a more modern building at the fort near the Church of St. Margaret in Žlebe (on the other side of the hill in front of you), but it was soon abandoned, perhaps even deliberately demolished. Namely, the knights of Hertenberg were robbers and it is possible that they perished during one of the Habsburg punitive campaigns. The Hertenberg knights supposedly erected the Nebovz (Nebojse) tower which has been mentioned in the folk tradition, but its actual location has never been found. The treasure the knights supposedly hid under Jeterbenk Castle has also never been found.

Church of St. Margaret
One nave church with five-eighth presbytery and a freestanding belfry was finished already in 1526. The ceiling in the nave is star-like vaulted and decorative painting date back in the 17th century. Late Gothic wooden polychrome beam with the group of Crucifixion from 1680 is on the arch. The main altar is from 1740 and three side altars are from 1641, 1665 and 1680.

Napoleon's Bridge
This is an interesting and well preserved stone bridge over the Mavelščica Stream below Seničica towards Medno motel. The bridge was built in 1666 (the year engraved in the bridge) and was then one of the most important transport facilities on the way from Ljubljana to Upper Carniola. Napoleon himself had nothing to do with the construction of the bridge, as it was built at least a century before he was born, but acquired such a name later, because Napoleon's army marched over it.

Plečnik's chapel
Hafner's chapel was built in 1934 in Preska pri Medvodah and it is labelled as the cultural monument. The chapel was built by the merchant, choirmaster and composer Lovro Hafner, after the death of his only son. The plans for the chapel of Virgin Mary were the work of architect Jože Plečnik.

Church of St. John the Baptist in Preska
The Church of St. John the Baptist was first mentioned in 1631, and already after 1641 it was known that the cemetery beside the church was enclosed with the wall. After the parish was established, the cemetery was abandoned and the new one was built at a present location as well as the mortuary in 1858.
According to Anton Koblar, who wrote about the parish in 1884, the church was rebuilt several times and had an unusual shape of an Orthodox cross which measured 18x18 m. The present church was built in 1941 according to the plans of architect J. Valentinčič. Only the belfry, side entrance, some statues, two Langus' and one Metzinger's paintings, and Kregar's painting from 1957 above the main altar have been preserved.

4 mačke Café, Medvode
The café located just by the Sora River offers a wide range of desserts, drinks and ice cream.

Cvajnar Open door farm
They will be happy to serve you beverages and home-made dishes on the benches in the shade of the old country house.

Bencak Inn
Bencak Inn's menu includes home-made Slovenian dishes, venison, fish dishes and seafood, freshwater fish, vegetarian and grilled dishes.

Dragon in Žlebe
The inscription on the board at Marjeta reads that in the ancient times a frightful dragon dwelled in the deep abyss at the Church of St. Margaret. He demanded a well-fed calf and a barrel of wine from the villagers each day. It happened that the calf of a poor cottager, intended to dragon, died and dragon demanded his daughter instead. But the dragon was tricked.
People filled the dead calf with quicklime and planted it to the dragon. It got thirsty after eating the calf and quicklime, filled up with wine, boiled in its stomach.
The evil dragon (lintvern) finally perished. The abyss was covered with a huge rock. A belfry was placed next to it and the church was dedicated to St. Margaret. Her statue holding a tamed dragon with a chain adorns the main altar.

Treasure from Jeterbenk Castle
The historical documents mention the castle at Jeterbenk. The robber knights of Hertenberg got the castle as a feudal estate from the Aquileia patriarchs. The documents tell about the demolition of the castle at Jeterbenk in the earthquake of 1511 while its ruins were probably used as construction material for the Church of St. Margaret in Žlebe. The folk tradition preserved the legend that tells about the church having been built by the Margaret of Hertenburg who tried to compensate the robber history of her predecessors. She later visited the ruins of the castle where a treasure was supposedly hidden. Her assistants helped her find it, but as she thought of how to make use of the treasure, it plunged back into the valley. The treasure supposedly still lies hidden somewhere in Jeterbenk. In the memory of the robber knights, the ambitious Tourist Society in Žlebe organizes an annual hike along the Paths of the Robber Knights.

Following the Paths of the Robber Knights
The traditional event is not organised on a certain day of the year as other events (e.g. From Litija to Čatež), however, it is quite similar to them. The path leads towards the home of the medieval knights from Jeterbenk who were known for their plundering expeditions.
At the end of the path between Žlebe and Jeterbenk, a book is waiting for the participants intended for them to sign in it and confirm that they have walked or drove the entire path. And, truly, the book already contains a large number of signatures.

The route is diverse as it is the nature on the way. The landscape along the route is intertwined with forests, picturesque villages, beautifully arranged cultural land and marvellous views from the tops and ridges of the Polhov Gradec Hills. With some luck and patience you can see some of the forest animals one the way, such as deer, squirrel, fox, rabbit and other game animals permanent residents of these forests and fields.
The route is suitable for cycling throughout the year, except when it snows. There are many peaceful places along the route where you can make a stop, take a rest and work out.