Dominated by the Maribor Cathedral, this square is closely connected with the history of the Archdiocese of Maribor. In the past, it bore the names Church Square and Cathedral Square. Since 1919, it’s been called Slomšek Square, after bishop Anton Martin Slomšek. Slomšek is known for moving the seat of the diocese to Maribor from St. Andrä in Austria. He is also the only Slovenian who’s been pronounced Blessed by the pope. His statue can be found on the edge of the park.
North of the church, a 16th-century Lantern of the Dead marks the location of the old city cemetery. Nearby is a stone lion from the Roman times, which was found in the riverbed of the Drava.
The surrounding buildings add more splendour to the square: the seat of the University of Maribor, the Slovene National Theatre Maribor, and the old Maribor post. The post building has a colourful past: it stands on the site of a former alms house, a church, and a girls’ school. For a while, the building had even housed the theatre before a new theatre building was erected on the opposite side of the square.
The University of Maribor is the second largest and oldest university in Slovenia. Its beginning date back to the 19th century when Bishop Anton Martin Slomšek founded the first Slovenian theological college. The university in its current form was founded in 1975. The seat of the university in located in the former Town Savings Bank on Slomškov trg square.
