Address Kobilje 35 9227 Kobilje Telephone ++386 2 579-92-20 Fax ++386 2 579-92-20 Email obcina.kobilje@siol.net Website http://www.kobilje.si Population 570 Size 19,74 km2 Mayor Robert Ščap

The municipality of Kobilje lies alongside the Kobiljansko stream nestled within mighty forests and carefully tended vineyards.

Archeological findings indicate that the area of present-day Kobilje was inhabited in the Stone Age. It was also inhabited during Roman times and most likely also during the time of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The settlement, which was first mentioned in 1208, was leveled by the Turks in 1627. In the year 1271 there is mention of the Church of St. Martin, town walls, the interior of the church, a rectory, and a large Franciscan monastery, all of which were destroyed by the Turks in 1627. Their march through the Kobiljansko valley is commemorated in the bucolic name Törektemetés (Turkish graves), supposedly also the gravesite of a fallen Turkish commander. In 1524 there were 10 mills operating in the region.

In Kobilje the heritage of the past is mixed into a modern urban environment, but the spirit of the age is reflected in the old Prekmurje houses, which read like a history book about the past of the Prekmurje plains. One of these houses will contain a museum, while another, which already contains a “Telehouse”, or communications center, will contain a tourism office and premises for cultural and tourism activities and wine-making activities with a winery.

In a small park in the middle of the town stand two huge wild service trees (Sorbus torminalis), the largest and oldest trees of their kind in Slovenia, and a bust of Father Pavel Berden. Forest cover the neighboring ridges, and on the hill of St. Martin there is a service tree (Sorbus domestica), 200 years old, the tallest of its kind in Slovenia, and a lovely new chapel which commemorates a former church.

Numerous associations exist to make sure that life is never monotonous. Although it is small, the municipality is planning the development of new jobs in agriculture and small business, the activation of a small industrial zone, the exploitation of geothermal energy etc. In addition there is the richness of the natural environment, including newly discovered energy points, the most numerous in Slovenia (48), which should lead to the development of increased tourism.