In order to prevent the spreading of Covid-19 and in accordance with recommendations from competent institutions, the Old Vine House is currently closed for visitors. You can still reach us via e-mail address stara-trta@maribor.si and phone number +386 51 335 521. We kindly invite you to visit our online wine shop and buy our products there. You can pick up your order in person by prior arrangement at the Old Vine House.

The biggest contemporary floor mosaic in Slovenia!

The Old Vine House can be proud of another attraction: it is home of the biggest contemporary floor mosaic in Slovenia. The mosaic represents the flow of the river Drava and reflects many of the historical turning points for the city of Maribor.

The mosaic is telling a story

The flow of the mosaic parallels that of the Drava river and along the way relates the history of Maribor through the implication of symbols, names, and important years. Upon entering the Old Vine House, we can immediately see its reflection as well as that of the old town centre, which is also reflected in the Drava river. Among the most interesting symbols that can be found in the mosaic is a wooden raft with fairies on the Drava, this symbolizes part of the city’s past when rafters used to land at Lent. A glass indicates the operation of the Pohorje so-called glažuta (glassworks), a water turbine symbolizes power plants on the river Drava, a piano and violin are dedicated to musicians from Maribor, Maribor’s three most prominent religions also received their own place for their respective symbols. There is an interesting story attached to an anchor; which is dedicated to General Wilhelm von Tegetthoff; a moustache and sword, which are a reminder of the important role of General Rudolf Maister; and a bishop's rod, which is dedicated to Anton Martin Slomšek. We can notice some symbols of the unusual shape which represent the orbital station of the rocket engineer Herman Potočnik Noordung.

 

More than a million pebbles

For a year and a half, architect and artist Igor Orešič laboured in his studio to create the 35-metre mosaic which runs the entire length of the house. More than a million pebbles were used. The total weight of the stones, with each stone 1x1x1 cm in size, amounts together to equal more than one tonne.

 

About the mosaic’s creator

The mosaic's creator is Maribor citizen Igor Orešič, Bachelor of Architecture, who was born in 1943 in Ruše which lies near Maribor. He graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and the Academy of Music, majoring in Piano in Ljubljana. The favourite scope of his work is the of planning interior design and the manufacture of mosaics.  The mosaic technique that he uses began in New York and later was refined in Milan. His most important works in Slovenia are the mosaic in the protocol facility at Brdo pri Kranju, a mosaic of St. George next to St. George's church in Piran and a memorial of the European Capital of Culture 2012 at Volkmerjev crossing (Volkmerjev prehod) in Maribor.

 

A word about the design of the House’s interior

The Drava river had influenced architect Mag. Tomaž Kancler long before his team designed the interior fittings of the House and its floor pattern. The inventive floor design is roughly the shape of the river. There is an element on the ceiling which is the same design component in green-blue hues which represents the vine growing hills around the city. Eight years later, in 2015, the flooring of the House was substituted with its unique mosaic floor.

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