Things To Do in Maribor Slovenia

Wine Capital and the Old Vine

Maribor's most famous resident is a vine. The Old Vine on Vojašniška Street — a Žametovka grape plant estimated to be over 400 years old — is documented as the oldest productive grapevine in the world, and it still produces a modest harvest each autumn that is bottled and distributed as a ceremonial wine. The surrounding Styrian wine region makes Maribor the natural capital of Slovenian wine culture, with the Štajerska Slovenija appellation producing whites of real quality from the hillside vineyards above the Drava river.

Old Town and the Drava

Maribor's old town occupies a bend in the Drava river, and the riverside Lent district — once the port and fishing quarter of a medieval city that was the second largest in the former Yugoslavia — is the most pleasant area to walk. The Judgement Tower, the Water Tower, and the old town hall define the waterfront architecture alongside the colored facades of the riverside restaurants and bars. The Lent Festival, held each June along the riverbanks, is the largest outdoor festival in Slovenia and transforms the waterfront for several weeks into an extended program of music, theatre, and food.

University City and Contemporary Culture

Maribor is home to the University of Maribor, Slovenia's second university, and the student population gives the city an energy that complements its more conservative wine and culinary heritage. The city was European Capital of Culture in 2012, which accelerated the development of contemporary arts infrastructure and brought attention to a city that had been somewhat overlooked in favour of Ljubljana. The Maribor Theatre Festival and the Guitar Art Festival have maintained consistent standards since the capital of culture year and contribute to a cultural calendar of genuine quality.

The Old Vine, Wine Culture and Maribor's Viticultural Heritage

Maribor is home to the oldest vine in the world still in active production: the Old Vine (Stara Trta) on the wall of a house in Vojašniška Street in the old town is documented as being over 400 years old, survived the phylloxera epidemic that destroyed most European vineyards in the 19th century, and still produces between 35 and 55 kilograms of grapes annually that are vinified into a few dozen bottles of Žametovka wine presented to visiting dignitaries. The Old Vine House beside the vine contains a wine museum and a tasting room for the wines of the Štajerska region — the Slovenian Styria — whose cool continental climate produces Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Gris of notable quality from vineyards visible on the slopes above the city. The annual Maribor October Vintage Festival, held since 1974 and centered on the harvest of the Old Vine itself, is the most attended cultural event in eastern Slovenia and combines wine tasting, folk performances, and the formal ceremony of the grape harvest in a program that draws visitors from across the country and neighbouring Austria. The Jeruzalem wine region to the northeast, with its rolling hills and the chapel that gave the area its name, is the most scenic viticultural landscape in Slovenia.

Pohorje, the Ski Resort and Maribor's Outdoor Life

The Pohorje massif, rising to 1,543 metres directly behind Maribor and accessible by gondola from the Mariborsko Pohorje station at the edge of the city, provides skiing in winter and hiking, cycling, and water park access in summer within 15 minutes of the city center. The Pohorje ski area, which has hosted the Golden Fox Ladies' World Cup slalom race since 1964 — one of the longest-running events on the World Cup circuit and a major annual sporting event in Slovenia — has 40 kilometres of ski runs across a variety of terrain served by 28 ski lifts in a resort that combines professional competitive infrastructure with family-friendly piste access. The Pohorje forest, covering the plateau above the ski area in mixed beech and spruce woodland, contains the Black Lake (Črno jezero), a glacial lake at 1,347 metres accessible by trail from the gondola station, and several forestry tracks and marked paths used by mountain bikers from the network of trails that Pohorje has developed as a summer destination. The Terme Maribor thermal spa complex in the city uses the geothermal water from the Pohorje geological formation and is the primary spa facility serving both city residents and visitors.

The Old Town, the Lent Festival and Maribor's Urban Character

Maribor's old town, on the south bank of the Drava river, contains the main square (Glavni Trg) with its 18th-century Plague Column, the Gothic Cathedral of St John the Baptist with a diocesan treasury of medieval art, and the Maribor Regional Museum in the former Maribor Castle — the most comprehensive collection of cultural heritage in eastern Slovenia. The Lent district along the Drava waterfront, named for the landing stage where goods were unloaded from river boats, is the historic commercial quarter of the city and now its main area of restaurants, bars, and the waterfront promenades that are the primary public space of the city in summer. The Lent Festival in June and July, the oldest open-air cultural festival in Slovenia, programs theatre, music, and dance performances across the Lent waterfront and the old town squares for two weeks, drawing performers and audiences that make it the most significant summer cultural event in eastern Slovenia. The Minority Church (Minoritska Cerkev) on Slomškov Trg, a Baroque church adjacent to the university, and the city's collection of Art Nouveau and Secessionist architecture in the 19th-century extension of the old town reflect Maribor's Habsburg heritage as the second city of the Duchy of Styria.