General Maistra Square is a meeting place, monuments and a wonderful view of the Neo-Renaissance building of the First Gymnasium. This is one of the larger squares in Maribor, which changed its name a couple of times during its history. During the Austro-Hungarian rule, this square was called Tegetthoff Square. Later, during the rule of Yugoslavia, it was called Jugoslovenski al i Leninov trg. The land on which the square is located belonged to Count Bandis in the 19th century.
In 1863, Maribor bought this land and decided not to do anything there. During the Austro-Hungarian rule, a monument dedicated to Admiral Winhem Von Tegetthoff was erected here. An important person who attended the unveiling ceremony of this monument was Franz Joseph I. The monument was later removed. In 1936, the Orthodox Church of Saint Lazarus was built on the square. At a depth of seven meters below the church, the foundations of the Glacier Castle were found during construction. The Orthodox church was demolished by the German occupiers in 1941.
The square got a park in 1883, and today you can see here the fountain of Milan Cernigoj and the monument to Rudolph Maestro erected as a sign of the formation of the Slovenian northern border.
Autor of the article:
Bojana Pantić - correspondent for the city of Maribor
