The valley of castles, which is the Shale valley because of the fact that in this small area several castles and mansions have been cared for throughout history, as elsewhere in Lower Styria. More than 10 such objects are listed in the records. To view two of them, as part of the visit to Velenje we do not need much time as their ruins are located almost in the very center of the city. The first is a castle that lies on a steep hill above the settlement Šalek, which is probably the oldest castle building in the Šaleška Valley. The valley also got its name after it. The tower is famous for its shape, because it is in the ground plan of a triangular shape. The second one is the Ekenstein Castle, whose ruins stand on a rocky dig of the top of the ridge, not far from the Shale Castle.