August 8, 2020 - St Vincent, or Sveti Vinko as he is known in Croatia is the holy protector of wine. Meet the world's tallest statue dedicated to him on the Ludbreg Wine Road.
One of the things that I have noticed in Croatian tourism is that there is a lot more to each destination than reaches the English-language tourism brochures. Over the years, I have learned to ask a couple of questions to locals and to watch untold treasures appear before my very eyes. With tourism information mostly based on the coast until quite recently, this has also helped me to appear to be a better writer than I am by being the first to write about interesting destinations completely off the tourism radar.
I can think of no better example in this regard than the pretty little town of Ludbreg in Varazdin County. Ask the majority of Croatians what they know about Ludbreg, and the answer will be the same - it is the centre of the world. And apart from that, little is known.
But the more I visited the town, the more I realised that it has some other rather unusual attractions, enough I decided to turn into a YouTube series, in partnership with the town of Ludbreg, called One Minute Ludbreg. A chance to explore the town and its 20+ attractions in one YouTube channel ahead of your visit.
We have already seen learned of the Croatian Government promise delivered 250 years late in Ludbreg, as well as the reason why the chief restorer of the Sistine Chapel is a regular visitor (both of those videos are below). And Ludbreg also has a wine claim to fame.
Unlike more famous wine regions in Croatia such as Dalmatia, Ludbreg has its very own wine road which was founded back in 2010 and this year celebrated its tenth anniversary. St Vincent is the protector of vineyards, and in October 2011, the Ludbreg Wine Association, Trsek, unveiled a new monument which would help ensure the protection of its vineyards - the largest statue of St Vincent in the world. The statue affords wonderful views of the vineyards and surrounding area, stretching into Hungary, and you can learn more about it in our third episode of One Minute Ludbreg below.
The One Minute Ludbreg video series is a project in paid partnership with the Ludbreg Tourist Board.
To learn more about Ludbreg beyond its stereotype as the centre of the world, read Marc Rowlands' Ludbreg, the Croatian Road Less Travelled.
