Maribor (pronounced as Mah-ree-bore) is the second biggest town in Slovenia and also the town where I was born. Although I don't exactly live in town now, but few kilometers away, Maribor is still my place of birth and the town, where I went to primary and secondary school, as well as lived over half of my life. And everywhere I go, Maribor is the only place where I really feel like home. I know every corner, every street and all the beautiful and the ugly parts. But of course like any guide and proud citizen, I will only show you the beautiful sides of my hometown. I'm sure you would do that, too.
✰ Introduction of Maribor
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The Water tower or Vodni stolp is one of the most famous historic buildings in Maribor. Constructed in 1555, it was meant to secure the southeast part of the medieval Maribor. It was connected to the wall that surrounded the town (source).
In the next part I will show you the famous old vine and much much more. Stay tuned.
✰ Introduction of Maribor
Maribor (a town municipality) has around 120.000 inhabitants and is the economic and cultural capital of northeastern Slovenia, with the second biggest university in the country. The town is divided in two parts by the river Drava, the old historic part on the left side, the newer and bigger part on the right side. The town grew next to Slovenske Gorice (literally "Slovenian Hills"), a hilly region famous for wine yards, which surround the northern part of Maribor, which makes the town one of the centers of the Slovenian wine industry. The southern part of the town lays under Pohorje, a famous 70km long mountain range in northeastern Slovenia, that makes Maribor one of the centers of the winter tourism in Slovenia. Every year, there's a women's ski competition in Maribor called Zlata Lisica (literally "Golden Fox"), which attracts a lot of ski fans from all over the world. But Maribor is also in the spotlight in summer. Every June there is a big international summer festival named Festival Lent, which attracts people from all over the world. There are theaters, concerts, performances, parties and a lot of food all along the river bank of Drava at the oldest part of Maribor, that's called Lent. In the same area is also one of the most famous tourist attractions in Maribor and one of natural wonders of the world: Stara Trta or the Old Vine, which is with over 400 years the oldest vine in the world (it made it even in the Guinness Book of Records). If you ask me personally, the most interesting thing about Maribor is its rich history, a well preserved medieval center and of course the friendly people.
There used to be a big castle above the town, that gave Maribor it's name.
✰ The history of Maribor
The Slavs (Slovenian ancestors) settled in this part of Europe in the 6th century and lived in the rural parts all around in the area, that now lays in the vicinity of Maribor. Franks (an old West German tribe) came here in the 8th century with their royals and started to settle and rule over the Old Slovenians. Maribor was first mentioned in the 12th century as in old German Marchburch (1164). The name was related to the castle one one of the hills above the town and is put together with march (old German for "border region") and burch (old German for "castle"). The castle was neglected in the 18th century and gradually disappeared. The name, which officially remained German until the 20th century, later changed to Marburg an der Drau (Drau is German for river Drava). The Slovenian name Maribor was invented in the 19th century by a Slovenian poet.
Maribor's old center from a bird's eye view:
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✰ Our Maribor tour
After my girlfriend and I finished touring western Slovenia, we returned back to my home, which is very close to Maribor. We took a day off, stayed home and rested. A day later we decided to have a sightseeing tour around Maribor. Let me show you what we saw that day:
We went to Europark, Maribor's biggest shopping mall, located on the right side of the river Drava. The old medieval part is on the left side, but not so far from here. You just cross a bridge and in 5 min you're already in Maribor's center. I always leave my car in Europark, because it's for free and there's always enough parking space.
Walking along Drava, we saw Kolosej (pronounced "Co-lo-say") on the other side. This modernist black box is Maribor's first multiplex (cinemas), completed in 2004. It was very popular in the beginning, but it's pretty much empty these days, because there's another more popular multiplex on the other side of Maribor.
The railway bridge or železniški most (pronounced "she-lez-neesh-key most"). It was completed in 1866 and replaced a wooden bridge, that was already built in 1846. It was bombed in 1945 and rebuilt again after the war.
The eastern Lent, the oldest part of Maribor. Most of these buildings destroyed during World War II and the area was neglected until the 1980s, where the town started to rebuild and revitalize the whole area.
The Old bridge or Stari most was completed in 1912 and was one of the most beautiful bridges in former Austrian monarchy. Prior to the steel construction, there used to be a wooden bridge, that connected the central part with the other side, called Tabor. The bridge was partly destroyed during WWII, rebuilt after the war and renovated in 1990 and 1998. The bridge is 166m long.
This is Lent, the oldest part of Maribor. The name comes from the old German word "lander", which meant "a harbor for the traditional rafts", that were very common in the area in the middle ages.
Lent is the most picturesque part of Maribor.
Church of St. Aloysius or Cerkev Svetega Alojzija has no bell tower, which makes it pretty special. It's like an "incognito church" and one of Maribor's famous buildings (18th century).
The river Drava as seen from the Old Bridge. There are many hydroelectric power plants on Drava, which transformed the once rushing river into a very slowly flowing waterway.
The Judgement tower or Sodni stolp was a former fortified tower at the end of the protective wall around Maribor, that guarded the southwestern part of town. The original one from the 13th century was enhanced in 1540. The current form is from 1830. There was a prison inside the tower as well as a court, where even women, who were seen as witches, were persecuted in the so called witchcraft trials. The last such trial in Maribor was in 1711.
The Main Square or Glavni trg is the oldest and biggest square in Maribor. On the left is the famous Plague Monument or Kužno znamenje, in the center is Maribor's Town hall (Mestna hiša) or commonly Rotovž.
In the next part I will show you the famous old vine and much much more. Stay tuned.
[My post about LENT][All photos by MKL, 2010, except the historic drawings]
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