The most beautiful religious buildings Northeast

The white church and its surprising bell tower which lets you guess its author, Jože Plečnik of course. It is transformed in 1925-1927. The old part of the 14th century with its portal and the capitals are then inserted into the new building. Pillars, altar and pulpit are made of marble from Podpeč. The architect Jože Plečnik has integrated pottery, a traditional local but also universal and millennial know-how. Ceramic plates decorate the oak ceiling while amphoras frame the main altar. An amazing step!

Ruins of the former Carthusian monastery. Founded in 1160, Žiče has remained virtually unchanged since then. You can see this in the church, whose roof collapsed in 1840. Žiče remained a medical centre for a long time, until it was dissolved.

The twelve Carthusian monks who settled there were originally from France. The monastery was the first to be founded outside the Latin world.

It is surrounded by ramparts of which a restored defence tower remains. Dissolved in 1782 by Emperor Joseph II, it passed into the hands of the Counts of Windischgrätz, who were the last owners. The Gothic chapel dates from 1469. At Spitalič lived converse brothers who were in contact with the inhabitants, unlike the Carthusian monks who respected a very strict rule.

Surrounded by forests, the old monastery is a place of meditation. The surrounding calm is soothing. The renovated buildings and the ruins of the other buildings are a source of imagination. The small museum is lulled by Carthusian songs. Today a herbalist's shop has been rebuilt in order to (re) discover artisanal therapeutic mixtures made from medicinal plants. The place is worth a visit for the sumptuous panorama it offers and to discover more about the French past of the monastery. For the bravest, a hiking trail starts from Slovenske Konjice and arrives here, it takes a good hour's walk.

You will first arrive at the Chapel of Loreto built in 1635, where the coat of arms of the Bishop of Ljubljana, Thomas Hren, the sponsor, and those of the Archdiocese. Thomas Hren gave his words of gratitude and thanked the intercession of the Virgin. A wooden statuette of the Queen of Nazareth is placed on the altar. As a result, the village took its name. The Franciscans settled on these heights after their flight from Bosnia, faced with the Turkish invader. The church is Renaissance style with a baroque interior. The altar was designed by Janez Vurnik in 1885. The altar of Saint-François-d'Assisi is a work by Francesco Robba, the altarpieces of side altars are due to Fortunat Bergant, Valentin Metzinger, Potočnik. There is also a convent in. since 1978.

The cult of Mithras was never a religion recognized by Rome. Therefore, these sacred places were outside the city. From the middle of the 3rd century, some temples crossed the boundaries of Ptuj. Sanctuaries I and II can be seen respectively at Spodnja Hajdina, about 4 km west of the town, and at Zgornji Breg. Contact the Regional Museum for a visit or ask for the key from your neighbour.

Mithra I. Spodnja Hajdina. To get there, take the direction of Maribor. On leaving Ptuj, turn left before the intersection of the roads leading to Ljubljana and Maribor. After 300 m, turn left at the sign. Park below and follow a small path between fir trees and corn crops. To obtain the key, you have to go to n° 40 (family Župančič). Built in the middle of the 2nd century A.D. by officials of the customs administration which had its seat in Ptuj. This set, discovered in 1898-1899, was covered in 1910.

Mithra II. Zgornji Breg. Beforehand take the direction of Maribor. At the sign indicating the sanctuary, turn right. The key's in number three. This sanctuary was founded in the second half of the 3rd century AD by soldiers of the 13th Germina and Macedonia legions, who settled in Ptuj. The site was revealed in 1913. The temple was built a year later to protect it.

The sites are remarkably well preserved and clearly worth the trip if you are staying in the Ptuj area.

6 km away. Originally, a chapel dedicated to St. Barbara stood on this site on top of the Straža hill. The present building was erected between 1721 and 1725 in response to the many pilgrims who had previously come to pray before the supposedly miraculous representation of St. Francis Xavier. The work therefore deserved its own church. It also contains a gold chalice donated by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, a silver monstrance donated by Archduchess Maria Anne of Austria, and two chasubles donated by the kings of France and Poland.

The monastery was built on the slope at the end of the valley. The construction was commissioned by Hans Tattenbach in 1550. In 1663, the castle was transformed into a monastery for the monks of the order of St. Paul of Lepoglava from Croatia. In the last decades, the monastery was run by the Friars Minor. The monks were engaged in medicine and pharmacy and like many other orders, also in agriculture and viticulture. The medicinal herb garden can be admired here.

It complements the work of Janez de Loka, founder of the hospice in 1417, and has Gothic frescoes representing 27 scenes of Passion (1450).

A building that does not go unnoticed with its red brick alignments. In a more symbolic way, it characterizes the entry into the pedestrian space of the city. The basilica has the peculiarity of being composed of three different naves. Built at the very end of the 19th century on the site of the former Viennese monastery, it is the work of the Austrian architect Richard Jordan. The interior is more classical and typical of Franciscan churches.

Dedicated to the Baptist of Christ, this cathedral has known all the great artistic periods, becoming in turn Romanesque, Gothic and then Baroque. Inside is the tombstone of Anton Martin Slomšek (1800-1862), the first Slovene to be declared a saint by the Vatican, celebrated as the spiritual hero of the nation. He was beatified in 1999 by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Maribor: stained glass windows recall this extraordinary event.

During the latest restoration, the wooden altars lost their gilding and reverted to their former black color, a reminder of the Pauline monks' veneration for the Black Madonna of their native Poland. The trompe l'oeil fresco on the choir vault is the work of Johannes Ranger, a monk from Tyrol (^18th century). The chapel of St. Francis Xavier was painted in 1760. The organ is remarkable, dating back over 230 years.

Built in 1910, it has a curious feature: a central stained glass window in the choir depicting Luther. This church is marked by lightness, finely decorated with geometric motifs that do not disturb its sobriety. Its construction in the axis of the castle would have displeased the count, catholic, who would have had his room moved. The architect Ernő Gerey is at the origin of this large-scale project: he gives back to the city the grandeur of its Protestant past. The painting of the altar has been entrusted to the artist Jenő Bory.

The 11th century church, partly circular, has a wooden bell tower and a shingled roof. The rotunda will surprise many people because it is absolutely unusual in Slovenia. The frescoes date from the 14th century. Small and simple church that you will not be able to forget so much its architecture surprises by its contemporaneity. One of the oldest religious buildings in the country and certainly one of the most beautiful. Muta was a border toll place in the Middle Ages.

This parish church was built as early as the middle of the 13th century. The baroque period has of course changed its appearance. You will discover paintings by Franz Ignaz Flurer, Anton Lerchinger and Filip Karl Laubmann. Above the altar, the work is signed by the hand of Martin Johan Kremserschmidt. A remarkable church, in many ways, which is clearly worth a little detour: it is so striking from afar as it dominates the town of Slovenska Bistrica.

It was the largest church in Slovenia in the 18th century. Its bell tower dates from 1671 and belonged to the previous church. In fact, a primitive church already existed around the year 1000. The Patriarchate of Aquileia founded a monastery and the Benedictines settled there in 1140, but three centuries later it was dissolved. Both the church and the monastery were destroyed in 1750. The present building was designed by Matija Perski. In the choir there is a fresco depicting the Virgin Mary and the two patron saints, a work by Layers like the Way of the Cross. The altarpiece is by Kumserschmidt.

Built at the end of the 14th century, it has one of the most beautiful works of art in the country, a Mercy carved in a single block of stone (1410-1415). The Virgin shelters under a mantle, unfurled by seven angels, 81 characters. It is a veritable portrait gallery where the Emperor Sigismund and the Counts of Celje can be identified. The old tympanum of the portal, placed above the altar, was commissioned by Bernard III of Ptuj to celebrate the baptism of Elizabeth, daughter of the emperor. The whole, very pure, is very expressive and lively. It was the Prague Speaking Workshop that worked on the building of the church founded by Bernard III. Destroyed by the Turks, it was completed during its renovation with four defence towers, only one of which remains on the south side. In the 16th century the church became Protestant and in 1615 the Jesuits took it over again until 1774. It has been in the hands of the Friars Minor since 1937. The three-nave church, a fine example of Slovenian Gothic, also contains the altar of the Counts of Celje designed in 1400 in the southern apse in the "soft style" and the bas-reliefs depicting the death of the Virgin, the Magi, and the angels with coats of arms. The work The Death of the Virgin was created in 1415 by the author of Mercy, who remained unknown. This church is one of the most beautiful in Slovenia, with an impressively rich interior and documentation that helps to get a better idea of what it means to pilgrims.

Built in the Romanesque style in the middle of the 13th century, this church was later modified to become Gothic and then Baroque. In 1826, following the demolition of an old neighbouring church, Saint-Pierre received a magnificent statue of the Virgin and Child dating from the 14th century. For the record, this work has already been exhibited at the Louvre museum a few years ago. The frescoes are by the artists Jacob Brollo and Osvaldo Bierti respectively.

The nave and two stained glass windows are of Romanesque origin. Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles have transformed the oldest building in the city dedicated to the niece of Aquileia's patriarch Berthold, Count of Andech. The pictorial works are by two local Baroque artists, Franc Michael Strauss (1667-1740) and Franc Andrej Strauss (1721-1782). The baroque altar was designed by Janej Jakob Schoy, a sculptor at the court of Graz. Not to be missed!

Mathilde, widow of Frederick III, donated the land to the Dominicans in 1230. Originally from Carinthia, they settled on the castle grounds a year later. The monastery was then only partially completed. Two renovations change its appearance. The first, in the mid-fourteenth century, following the fire of 1302. In the cloister, the fresco of the Dominicans at prayer dates from this period. The second renovation, a century later, gives the cloister its final appearance. The order was dissolved by Emperor Joseph II in 1786. The former monastery escaped its conversion into a textile factory. In 1928, this former museum installed its archaeological collections there.

In the crypt, the reconstruction of a shrine dedicated to Mithra, discovered at Spodnja Hajdina in 1901, allows you to become familiar with this religion originating in Persia, which was widespread in the first centuries of Christianity among the Romans and was introduced by soldiers on European soil. The initiation cult was reserved exclusively for men. The lapidary occupies the ground floor of the old church. Funerary stelae are attributed to soldiers and veterans of the Roman legions who were stationed in Ptuj (Poetivo). The bas-reliefs of the 2nd and 3rd centuries depicting the Nurse are of great beauty. The Nutrices Augustae was revered by the women and children she was supposed to protect. The Celts were already practicing this cult. On the first floor were gathered Roman pieces (jewellery, glassware, pottery...) as well as Slavic pottery.

Its origin dates back to the 11th century. It was first renovated in 1350 and is the resting place of the Counts Szapary. It is one of the best preserved Slovenian testimonies of late Romanesque art. Over the centuries, several modifications and renovations have been imposed on it. In 1910 it was completely rebuilt by the architect László Takács, who gave it three naves instead of the original one. Beautiful stained glass windows inside and a superb pictorial representation of St. Nicholas on the main altar made by Matthias Schiffer in 1797.

Superb Gothic church dating from the 15th century. It was consecrated by the Bishop of Ljubljana Sigismund von Lamberg in 1485. Its bell tower is more recent and would have been added at the very beginning of the 18th century. The main point of interest of this small church is undoubtedly its late Romanesque statue of the Virgin Mary carrying her child. It would probably date back to the late 1200s. Nice view over the whole valley from the religious building.