Description: As you approach Maribor centre from the northern side of the Drava (the area of the city known as Tabor) the town’s eclectic skyline comes into view. There are a number of handsome towers and steeples rising above the red roofs but the unusual tower of Maribor’s cathedral stands out in particular.
The cathedral stands on what is now Slomskov Square in the heart of the city centre, a leafy square where you’ll also find the central post office, the main building of the University of Maribor and the Maribor outpost of the Slovene National Theatre, all handsome buildings in their own right. Although it’s a lovely square it’s a bit of a shame that the cathedral is stuck in such an enclosed space as this makes it difficult to appreciate its appearance.
There has a been a church, dedicated to John the Baptist, in this spot since the late twelfth century but there were important and extensive additions made until the 18th century. Originally it was a small church with a wooden roof and just one aisle. Two side aisles were added in the middle of the 14th century and at the end of that century the Gothic style presbytery (with its striking image of the four evangelists that adorn the ceiling) was added. In the 16th century the wooden ceiling was replaced by the grand Gothic arched ceiling that remains today. The two side chapels were added, one at the beginning of the eighteenth century and the other towards the end.
In 1859, Anton Martin Slomsek moved the seat of the Archbishopric from St Andra in Carinthia to Maribor and the church of St. John became a cathedral, remaining to this day the seat of the Archbishop of Maribor. Slomsek is inextricably connected with Maribor having established a religious college and two religious orders during his time as Archbishop of the diocese. Pope John Paul canonised Slomsek in 1999 In a ceremony that took place at nearby Betnava dvorec, the headquarters of the diocese, on the northern edge of the city.
It’s possible to enter the cathedral at most times during the day but you must usually make arrangements in advance if you wish to climb the bell tower (more details later). The interior has a number of important features. The altar is the work of Jozef Holzinger, a local craftsman who also contributed to the nearby Aloysius Church on Glavni trg) but it wasn’t just local craftsmen and artists whose work can be seen in the cathedral. Adam Molk of Vienna painted the fresco entitled "The Finding of the Holy Cross" which decorates the Holy Cross chapel, the slightly newer of the two chapels while the pipe organ was made by a German craftsman named Walcker.
Apart from the bell tower from favourite part of the cathedral is the richly decorated ceiling of the Baroque chapel of St. Francis Xavier.
To arrange to climb the bell tower, from where you can get some excellent views of the town and the surrounding mountains, you can either ask at the tourist information office, or else call directly at the diocese office just across the road from the cathedral. If you go to the tourist information office they can arrange a time to meet someone with a key at the diocese office; if you go directly there you can cut out the middle man, though there is no guarantee that you’ll be able to climb the tower at that time.
If you don’t speak Slovene or German it is probably best to ask the tourist information office to arrange the visit and perhaps give you a slip of paper to say that you have made the arrangement as the lady in the diocese office does not speak English. They are a very trusting bunch of people (or perhaps she really liked me); I was given the key and told which door to go to and how to open it (there’s a knack to it). Once done we locked up and I returned the key.
There are quite a few steps and they do become quite narrow and steeper as you climb higher so this experience might not be for everyone. Positively, though, if you’re not part of a big group you can go at your own pace and not feel pressured to go faster than you’re comfortable with. If you can, try to go up between the quarter hours and there are four large bells in this tower which make quite a noise when they chime.
The tower is 57 metres high but used to be higher; until it was struck by lightning in 1792 it was 76 metres high. A small but safe walkway around the tower affords wonderful views of the city and then to the Pohorje mountains to the south, and the gentler Kozjak hills and beyond them the Austria border to the north.
A visit to Maribor’s cathedral need not detain you long but it is worth seeing if you are interested in the region’s ecclesiastic history and climbing the bell tower gives you a chance to appreciate the city and its surroundings.
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