Maribor is city in north-western part of Slovenia and is, after Ljubljana, second biggest city of the country. The city is cultural, university, economical, sport and fair center of this part of Slovenia. It is located next to the river Drava and is on the juncture of five regional units – Drava valley, Pohorje, Kozjak, Slovenske gorice and Drava polje. Maribor is the center of Slovenian Styria and seat of Podravje region. City rights were obtained in 13th century. The city lies on altitude 274,7 meters.

HOW MARIBOR GOT HIS NAME

The area of Maribor was a part of border county of Frankish state in 12th century, where they wanted to control the entry into Drava valley due to frequent Hungarian invasions. That is why they constructed the fort or castle on the hamlet Piramida, which was mentioned for the first time on 20th October 1164 under the name castrum Marchburch. This name originates from the concept castle in mark or in today’s German language denomination Burg in der Mark or Markpurg, Markburg and later Marburg. Most likely the fort already existed before that date, as it was mentioned already in year 1124. That year Bernard Mariborski was already mentioned; he was border earl of Podravje region from kinship Spanheim, and he transferred the seat of the region from castle Hompoš to castle Maribor.

In document of duchy Leopold VI. Babenberžan was Maribor in year 1209 mentioned as square forum Marchpurch. This document dates back to the year 1209. Maribor is for the first time mentioned as a city of civitaten Marpurg in documents, which dates to 4th December 1254. Till the beginning of 19th century the city was called Markburk, Slovenians deformed it to Marprok. So in 19th century they started to write the city name differently, namely Marburg an der Drau (Marburg on Drava). They did so in order to differentiate between this and the German city Marburg that was located in Hessen by river Lana (Marburg an der Lahn).

Stanko Vraz was first to write Slovenian name Maribor in a letter to Ljudevit Gaj, on 10th November 1836. He simply modified the name from German name Marburg – he kept part of the word Mar, but he changed burg into Slovenian bor. He did that after the German example, as they derived the name Bradenburg from the name Branibor. At first he used the form Marbor, later he consistently used only Maribor. After year 1838 the name was also used by people from Vraz’s inner circle, due to opposition among Slovenians the city waited 25 years for his enforcement. So in year 1861 the member of Parliament Lovro Toman published the song Mar i bor, and with that he gave the name the meaning and the name enforced among Slovenians. So the slogan of the city became Mar i bor – mar as i do care, i(in) as and, bor-im as i fight for the city – (I do care and i fight for the city).

CITY COAT OF ARMS

The base of coat of arms is city signet ring from 14th century – here are united medieval heraldic symbols, which are the wall, open city doors and the pigeon above.

Coat of arms is in shape of the shield with field in red color. On the red part is entry tower with open doors and raised slot. Above the door are two embrasures. On the sides of entry towers is foursquare watchtower with hemispherical window, side superstructure and seabassed? superstructure. Between watchtowers, which are connected with the wall, is white pigeon with spread wings. The castle reminds on the castle on Piramida, after which the city got its name. The pigeon is the symbol of St. Spirit that watches over the city. Patron of the city is St. John Baptist.

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Travel from Maribor
Nomago will take you to your destination – major cities around Slovenia: Bled, Ljubljana, Postojna, Koper or other place. From Ljubljana to the airport: Venice, Treviso, Trieste or Brnik. You can rent-a-vehicle and travel around Slovenia freely. Book a plane ticket or take a trip with Nomago travel agency. [_Read more_]

Čeligi tower
Čeligi tower, also Black tower, was part of the northern city wall and is the only preserved medieval tower of together six towers from this complex. It is one of the most beautifully preserved towers of this kind in Slovenia. The building got its name in 19th century by the famous Maribor brewers Tscheligi. [_Read more_]

Tree-lined alley of 27 willows
Tree-lined alley of 27 willows is located next to Drava embankment, between marketplace and the Studenci footbridge. Linden tree rows were planted by Rotary club Maribor in cooperation with the City municipality Maribor in year 2012. This gesture was made in memory of ECC (European Capital of Culture). [_Read more_]