Radoboj

Radoboj occupies the southern slopes of Strahinščica at about 257 metres above sea level and roughly ten kilometres from Krapina by road. First recorded as Radoboa in 1334, the settlement acquired a distinctive industrial identity after sulphur was discovered in 1811 and coal mining followed. Mining also exposed remarkably rich fossil beds containing plants, insects and other organisms; palaeobotanist Franz Unger spent decades studying material from Radoboj. The relationship between mining, geology and fossils is now interpreted at the Muzej Radboa in the village centre. A nature-and-hiking route begins by the museum and the Zagorje Nature Centre, with a ten-kilometre Strahinščica circuit and a separate 2.4-kilometre Dedek i Babica spur. The main route rises from 266 to 846 metres and combines asphalt, gravel tracks, forest paths and true mountain trail. Strahinščica is also noted for its orchids, with 32 species and subspecies recorded in the area. County bus route 561 reaches Radoboj from Krapina via Trški Vrh, covering six kilometres between its terminal stops.

Radoboj is a municipal centre on Strahinščica’s southern side, where natural history and industrial heritage are unusually closely entwined. Sulphur was discovered in 1811, and subsequent sulphur and coal mines decisively shaped the settlement’s development. Excavation also uncovered Miocene plant and insect fossils that made Radoboj known in European scientific circles. An older layer survives in the Gothic churches of the Holy Trinity and St James, while the recorded name Radoboa confirms the village’s existence in 1334.