Maribor: City of towers

Proposing a new slogan for my hometown

The 58m tall bell towers of the Franciscan church, Maribor's famous landmark.

Maribor is a city of towers! I'm not sure if any other town in Slovenia has more towers than my hometown. Out of at least 9 medieval wall towers, 4 are preserved in Maribor today. Three are renovated (Water tower, Round tower and Jewish tower) and serve a new purpose, one is in plans to be renovated (Čeligi tower). And then there are the two 58m tall towers of the Franciscan church and the 57m tall tower of Maribor's cathedral. And let's not forget smaller towers, such as the one on the Maribor castle and on top of Narodni dom. I hope that the people of Maribor know how many treasures our hometown hides all over the old center. And we definitely need to preserve them.

The famous old wall towers of Maribor, from left to right: Water tower, Round tower, Jewish tower and Čeligi tower.

✰ Grajski trg/Castle square

Continuing from my previous two posts, where my girlfriend and I started off from Europark shopping mall and then walked along the river Drava to the Main square and from there down to Lent and to the Old Vine. After my girlfriend had her dose of wine and milk, we headed back up to the old medieval center of Maribor. The first part we had a brief stop was Castle square or Grajski trg. She wanted to shop a little and I had a cup of coffee and waited for her.

Castle square is one of the spots, where Maribor people like to hang out.

Maribor castle and the St. Florian monument.

On the left is a monument to St. Florian (Slovenian Sveti Florjan), built in the year 1700 after a devastating fire. Florian is the patron saint of firefighters. Today only the statue on top is original, everything else was reconstructed. This monument is a popular meeting point among people of Maribor, they would usually say "Se dobima pri Florjanu" ("We meet at the Florian").

✰ Mariborski grad/Maribor castle

The building at the center is Maribor castle or Maribor mansion (Slovenian Mariborski grad). This is currently one of the biggest and most significant historic buildings in Maribor and it has a very rich history. It was built in 1478 on the north eastern part of the wall and was meant as an additional fortification, that shall prevent Maribor from invasions from the Turks.

Maribor castle in the 17th century (by Vischer).

In the middle ages, the castle was much larger than it is today. It had four towers and a big yard, it was one of the most majestic castles in the Slovenian lands (see an old painting here). Unfortunately things turned bad for the whole structure in the 19th century. Three towers and the whole western part of the castle were removed and a street was laid out on the former inner yard. In the 1930s the castle was bought by the municipality of Maribor and became the home of the Regional Museum Maribor, which is still found there today. Inside the building, there's also one of the most beautiful staircases in Slovenia. The castle also had some prominent historic visitors, some of them however, could've stayed out of Maribor, if you ask me. Among them were: Leopold I., Holy Roman Emperor (17th century), Charles VI., Holy Roman Emperor (18th century), Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria (18th century), Paul I., Emperor of Russia (18th century), Pope Pius VI. (18th century), Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer, who had a concert in the castle (19th century) and Adolf Hitler, German fuhrer (1941), (Info: Source).

✰ Typical for Maribor

What happened to this castle is very typical for the whole history of Maribor: Things are constantly built, destroyed, fixed, rebuilt, changed, new things added, old things modified. That was the case centuries ago and it's still a common practice today. Most people in Maribor are probably used to that, but at one point we need to figure out what we really want Maribor to be. I'm rather for preserving the old, when it comes to the center, rather than destroying it and replacing it with new.

This is the Slovenian street (Slovenska ulica). Slovenians lived in Maribor since the beginning (first time mentioned in the 13th century), but until the first half of the 20th century the majority of the people in Maribor were of German descent and the official name was Marburg an der Drau.

The Castle square with the view on the Franciscan church.

Another view on Florjan and the Castle square with all the cafés.

Mariborska hranilnica (a bank) building from 1910. Oh, and another tower.

✰ More interesting parts of Maribor

This is my former secondary school named Prva Gimnazija. "Prva" means "first" and it's currently the oldest secondary school in Maribor. The building was completed in 1873.

In Maribor there are 3 secondary schools ("Prva, Druga, Tretja" meaning "First, Second, Third") and there's a rivalry between the First and Second (Third is totally out of the competition), because usually in the post WWII decades the Second had the smartest students, but in recent years the First caught up (especially when I was there in the late 1990s *cough, yeah...). That's why I believe that Prva is the best and most prestigious secondary school in Maribor and if you think you object to that, meet me tomorrow at 7am under the Old bridge and we can settle this.

In the park near my secondary school, there's a statue of one of Slovenia's most important historic figures: Rudolf Maister. He's especially important for the people of Maribor. As a general, he organized a Slovenian army, who took control of the town. He made sure, that in 1918, when the Austrian Monarchy fell apart, Maribor stayed under Slovenia (then part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs). He's seen as very important and honorable among Slovenes, but for Austrians, he's seen as a controversial historic figure (Info: Source).

Back from my former secondary school to another square near the castle. This one is called Freedom square (Slovenian Trg Svobode). That big sculpture is a monument to those who fought for freedom during WWII and was placed her in 1975. It was designed by Slavko Tihec, a famous Slovenian sculptor. People in Maribor call this sculpture Kojak (Slovenian Kodžak), which named after a very popular American TV series from the 1970s. The detective Theo Kojak, played by the Greek actor Telly Savalas, was bald and hence the nickname given to the round-shaped monument.

Nearby is another famous landmark in Maribor: The Franciscan church. It was completed in the year 1900 and is currently one of the tallest buildings in Maribor, 58m (Info: Source).

After the extensive sightseeing, my girlfriend and I went to Kolosej, the famous black box on the opposite side of Europark, the first multiplex in Maribor. We didn't mean to watch a movie, though. I invited my girlfriend to play some pool with me.

I had to teach her first, but she's really talented. She nearly won and I'm a damn good player. Guess I need to train her well and we can play doubles and win a lot of cash in the future.

Narodni dom (literally "National home") is one of Maribor's landmark buildings, whose tower is seen from many parts of the city. It was completed in 1898 and served as a cultural center of Slovenians in Maribor at a time, when Slovenians were under the Austrian Monarchy. It was also significant in the later years during WWI and II. Today the building is used for various cultural events and gatherings. I remember having dance lessons here and my senior prom was held here as well in the late 1990s (Info: Source).

Back to the river Drava and the Water tower. Read about it here>>

Sun setting in Maribor, late August, 2010.

We really had fun in Maribor, although we were mad tired from the whole Slovenia tour. I think, if my girlfriend could stay longer here, I would show her much more of Maribor. We could see more museums, we could go on top of the hills that surround the town and enjoy the views, we could walk along Drava, go to the Maribor park or go shopping (although that would be more for my girlfriend). Anyway, Maribor is really interesting, especially if you take some time and learn the history and then explore the city by foot. A (at least) three days long stay is a must, if you really wanna feel the relaxing atmosphere of the life in Maribor. And people are mostly friendly, usually much friendlier than those in Ljubljana, so I was told ;-) Oh, and don't forget the towers.

My rating of Maribor:

Great place for photos ✰✰✰✰✰

Well preserved and clean ✰✰✰✰✰

Toilets, parking, souvenirs ✰✰✰✰✰

Friendly to tourists ✰✰✰✰✰

Maribor Old Vine :Before [Slovenia Tour 2010] Next: Graz/Gradec>>

[My MARIBOR page][My SLOVENIA page][All photos by MKL, 2010, except the historic]