Religious, Spiritual sights in Slovenia
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Abbey Church of St Daniel
A few steps to the northwest of the Water Tower is the Abbey Church of St Daniel, dating from the early 14th century. The church has some magnificent frescoes and tombstones, but its greatest treasure is a 15th-century carved wooden pietà in the Chapel of the Sorrowful Mother to the left of the sanctuary. The chapel has carved stone walls and vaults with remnants of frescoes from the early 15th century and carved effigies of the Apostles.
Parts of Celje's medieval walls and ramparts can be seen along Ulica na Okopih, west of the church.Contiguous with Slomškov trg is Glavni trg, the heart of the Old Town. It is filled with lovely townhouses dating from the 17th and 18th…
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Church of St John the Baptist
The Church of St John the Baptist, on the northern side of the Sava Bohinjka just across the stone bridge, is what every medieval church should be: small, on a reflective lake and full of exquisite frescoes. It is the most beautiful and evocative church in all of Slovenia, with the possible exception of the Church of the Holy Trinity at Hrastovlje in Primorska. Unfortunately it was under renovation at the time of research.
The nave of the church is Romanesque, but the Gothic presbytery dates from about 1440. A large portion of the latter's walls, ceilings and arches are covered with 15th- and 16th-century frescoes. As you face the arch from the nave, look for the frescoes…
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Parish Church of Our Lady
Sitting atop a gentle slope 200m north of Cesta 4 Maja, the Parish Church of Our Lady (Župnijska Cerkev Sv Marije) is the only real attraction right in Cerknica. To reach it, walk up the street called simply Tabor, which runs to the east of the shopping centre.
The church sat in the middle of a fortified settlement - the ramparts and two towers, built to withstand Turkish raids in the late 15th century, remain intact. On the Latin plaque in the wall, the number 4 of the year 1472 is written with a loop - the top half of an 8 - because 4 was considered unlucky in the Middle Ages, as it still is in much of Asia.
Completed in the early 16th century, this is a hall church -…
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Cathedral of St Nicholas
Dominating Pogačarjev trg is the Cathedral of St Nicholas. A church has stood here since the 13th century, but the existing twin-towered building dates from the start of the 18th century. Inside it's a palace of pink marble, white stucco and gilt, with frescoes by baroque master Giulio Quaglio and 19th-century artist Matevž Langus.
Have a look at the magnificent carved choir stalls, organ and the angels on the main altar - another Robba creation. Two stunning bronze doors were added in 1996 to commemorate the late Pope John Paul II's visit - the (main) west door facing the Bishop's Palace symbolises 1250 years of Christianity in Slovenia, and the six bishops on the…
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Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity
The Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity, which faces the Kongresni Trg Square from across Slovenska cesta and dates from 1726, is the most beautiful baroque building in the city. It contains a multicoloured altar by Robba made of African marble.
To reach the church use the Plečnik underpass (Plečnikov podhod) at the western end of Kongresni trg and, as you descend, look to the right for a small gilded statue on top of a column. It's a copy (the original is in the National Museum) of the Roman-era Citizen of Emona, dating from the 4th century and unearthed nearby in 1836.
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Dominican Monastery
Just past Sunny Park (Sončni Park) in Muzejski trg is the former Dominican Monastery, which contains the lapidary and archeological collections of the Ptuj Regional Museum The monastery was built in 1230 but abandoned in the late 18th century when the Habsburgs dissolved the Catholic religious orders.
The beautiful eastern wing has a cross-ribbed Romanesque window and Gothic cloisters with 14th-century frescoes of Dominican monks in their black and white garb. There's also a refectory with 18th-century stucco work, a chapter hall and a large Roman coin collection.
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Church of St George
Behind the City Tower in Slovenski trg is the Church of St George, which reveals an array of styles from Romanesque to neo-Gothic. The church contains some lovely late-14th-century choir chairs decorated with animals, a carved relief of the Epiphany dating from 1515 and frescoes in the middle of the south aisle and the restored Laib Altar, a three-winged altar painting by Konrad Laib (c 1410-60) completed in the mid-15th century.
Near the entrance is a carved 14th-century statue under glass of St George slaying the dragon.
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Parish Church of St Martin
You can reach Bled Castle on foot via one of three trails signposted 'Grad'. The first trail starts from the car park behind the Bledec Hostel; the second is a tortuous path up from the Castle Baths; and the third starts just north of the neo-Gothic Parish Church of St Martin . This church was designed by Friedrich von Schmidt in 1905, who also did the city hall and Votive Church in Vienna. Outside there's a small shrine designed by Jože Plečnik.
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Chapter Church Of St Nicholas
Sights Perched Above The Old Town, This Gothic Church (Kapiteljska Cerkev Sv Nikolaja; Kapiteljska Ulica) Is Novo Mesto's Most Visible Historical Monument. And, With A 15th-Century Vaulted (And Very Floral) Presbytery And Crypt, Painted Ceiling, A Belfry That Had Once Been A Medieval Defence Tower, And An Altar Painting Of The Eponymous Saint Supposedly Done By The Venetian Master Jacopo Tintoretto (1518-94), It Is Also The City's Most Important.
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Church of the Assumption
The baroque Church of the Assumption on Bled Island, dating from the 17th century, contains some fresco fragments from the 14th century, a large gold altar and, under the floor of the nave, part of the apse of a pre-Romanesque chapel, the only one in Slovenia. Outside is a 15th-century belfry with a 'wishing bell' that visitors can ring if they want to ask a favour. Naturally everyone and their grandmother does it - again and again and again.
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Minorite monastery
On the east side of Minoritski trg, which has a 17th-century plague pillar of Mary and the Infant Jesus in the centre, is the massive Minorite monastery, which was built in the 13th century. Because the Franciscan Minorites dedicated themselves to teaching, the order was not dissolved under the edict issued by Habsburg Emperor Joseph II in the late 18th century, and it has continued to function in Ptuj for more than seven centuries.
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Cathedral of St John the Baptist
The imposing Cathedral of St John the Baptist dedicated to St John the Baptist, dates from the 13th century and shows elements of virtually every architectural style from Romanesque to modern (including some inept 19th-century attempts to 're-Gothicise' it). Of special interest are the flamboyant Gothic sanctuary and the choir stalls with reliefs showing scenes from the life of the patron saint.
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Church of Sts Peter and Paul
On the northern side of the Minorite monastery's inner courtyard, the Church of Sts Peter and Paul is one of the most beautiful examples of early Gothic architecture in Slovenia. Reduced to rubble by Allied bombing in January 1945., it was painstakingly rebuilt over the decades and has now risen - phoenix-like - as a gem of modern architecture on the same spot.
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Church of the Annunciation
The narrow, single-nave Church of the Annunciation near the Kostanjevica Monastery has interesting stuccos. In the spooky crypt is the tomb of the Bourbons (grobnica bourbonov), which contains the mortal remains of the last members of the French house of Bourbon, including Charles X (1757-1836).
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Franciscan Church of the Annunciation
The 17th-century Italianate Franciscan Church of the Annunciation (stands on the northern side of the square. The interior is not so interesting with its six side altars and enormous choir stall, though the main altar was designed by the Italian sculptor Francesco Robba (1698-1757).
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Mithraic shrines
The key attraction at the Dominican Monastary are the Mithraic shrines at Spodnja Hajdina (key at house No 37a) and Zgornji Breg (key at Ulica K Mitreju 3), a couple of kilometres west of town where you can see the Roman tombstones, altars and wonderful mosaics unearthed in Ptuj.
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Franciscan Monastery
Attached To The Chucrch Of St Leonard, Is The Bright Yellow Franciscan Monastery , Whose Library Contains Some 12,000 Volumes, Including Important 12th-Century Incunabula. The Gymnasium On Jenkova Ulica 1 Was Founded By Maria Theresa In 1746, Is To The North.
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Orthodox Church
The interior of the Serbian Orthodox Church, built in 1936 and dedicated to Sts Cyril and Methodius, is covered from floor to ceiling with colourful modern frescoes. There is a richly carved iconostasis separating the nave from the sanctuary.
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Church of St James
The Church of St James was built in 1615. Inside the church, far more interesting than Robba's main altar (1732) is the one in the church's Chapel of St Francis Xavier to the left, with statues of a 'White Queen' and a 'Black King'.
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Capuchin Church of St Cecilia
On the south bank of the Savinja River a covered stairway with 90 steps at Breg 2 leads to the Capuchin Church of St Cecilia. The Germans used the nearby monastery (now apartments) as a prison during WWII.
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Church of St Nicholas
South of Temple of Hercules, you can walk up 396m-high Nicholas Hill (Miklavški Hrib), topped by the Church of St Nicholas, for a wonderful view of the castle, the Old Town and the Savinja.
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Church of St John the Baptist
On the south side of Gradaščica Canal is the Church of St John the Baptist, which has a lovely carved altar and where the poet Prešeren met the love of his life, Julija Primic.
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Kostanjevica Monastery
The Kostanjevica Monastery, on hill 800m south of the train station, was founded by the Capuchin Franciscans in the early 17th century and has a wonderful library that can be visited.
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Church Of St Leonard
Southeast Of The Town Hall Is The Church Of St Leonard, Which Was Originally Built By Franciscan Monks Fleeing The Turks In Bosnia In 1472
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Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption
The neo-baroque Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption, was built in 1927 on the site of a 16th-century apparition of Mary.
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