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Maribor

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Slovenia, Lower Styria Region, Maribor, European Capital of Culture 2012, the banks of the Drave river and the steeple of the cathedral

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Overview

Despite being the nation’s second-largest city, Maribor has only about a third of the population of Ljubljana and often feels more like an overgrown provincial town. It has no unmissable sights but oozes charm thanks to its delightfully patchy Old Town along the Drava River. Pedestrianised central streets buzz with cafes and student life, and the riverside Lent district hosts a major summer arts festival. Maribor is the gateway to the Maribor Pohorje, a hilly recreational area to the southwest, and the Mariborske and Slovenske Gorice wine-growing regions to the north and east.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

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    Maribor Regional Museum

    Maribor

    Housed inside 15th-century Maribor Castle, this museum has one of the richest collections in Slovenia, though much of it is not on show. The most…

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    Old Vine

    Maribor

    About 150m east along the Pristan embankment is Maribor's most celebrated attraction, the so-called Old Vine, which still produces between 35kg and 55kg…

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    Maribor Cathedral

    Maribor

    Maribor's cathedral faces the square named after Anton Martin Slomšek (1800–62), the Slovenian bishop and politician beatified in 1999 and the first…

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    City Park

    Maribor

    City Park is a lovely arboretum with 150 species of trees and three ponds. Here you’ll find the small but diverting Maribor Aquarium-Terrarium, with its…

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    Glavni Trg

    Maribor

    Maribor’s marketplace in the Middle Ages, Glavni trg is just north of the river and the main bridge crossing it. In the centre of the square is Slovenia’s…

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    Synagogue

    Maribor

    Just north of the pentagonal 16th-century Water Tower on the waterfront, a set of steps leads up to Židovska ulica (Jewish St), the centre of the Jewish…

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    Plague Pillar

    Maribor

    In the centre of Glavni trg, Maribor's marketplace in the Middle Ages, is perhaps the most extravagant Plague Pillar found anywhere in Central Europe…

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    National Liberation Museum

    Maribor

    Housed in a stunning 19th-century mansion, the collections here document Slovenia’s struggle for freedom throughout the 20th century, with particular…

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