The Minorite Olimje Monastery, 3km southwest of Podčetrtek, was built as a Renaissance-style castle in about 1550. Its Church of the Assumption contains 17th-century ceiling paintings in the presbytery, one of the largest baroque altars in the country and the ornate Chapel of St Francis Xavier . On the ground floor of the corner tower to the left of the main entrance is the monastery’s greatest treasure: a 17th-century pharmacy painted with religious and medical scenes.
The Franciscan monks here grow their own herbs and medicinal plants in the nearby garden.
