Not far from Terme Olimia (here), to Podcertrtek, lies the ancient Olimje monastery. Set in a bucolic landscape, green fields, orchards, gardens and fields, the monastery was the castle of Pilstein counts, then moved in 1663 to the Pauline monks Lepogiava, it is inhabited today by the Congregation of the Friars Minor Conventual of St. Francesco d'Assisi.
The exterior facades and the courtyard have frescoes in the Baroque style, with gray geometric decorative boxes. The church has a nave with a barrel vault, it is also in the Baroque style with blacks-gilded altars and a beautiful statue, a half-length, of Blessed Anton Martin Slomsek.
The room on the ground floor of the south tower conceals the old pharmacy of the Pauline monks, famous for its beautiful frescoes dating back to 1780, work of the master Anton Lerchinger, which narrate the paths that lead to the salutes and luck. The frescoes, in fact, portray famous physicians and healers, medicinal plants and Biblical scenes related to the history of medicine.
Even today, the Friars Minor Conventual have preserved the tradition and create herbal teas, tinctures, ointments, and other medical preparations, on sale at the monastery, and which are made from herbs that cure in the botanical garden right outside, where there are more than two hundred medicinal herbs.
Olimje is a peaceful haven in an increasingly hectic world. Here the religious find peace in silent prayer in front of the picture of the Madonna, and nature lovers enjoy the scenery while sitting on benches outside the monastery and let the beauty of nature, the creation of God, speak to them.
