Architecture
Many Medieval structures still stand in Maribor. Of the remains of city walls, the most prominent are the Judgement Tower, the Water Tower, and the Jewish Tower. The Maribor Cathedral was built in the Gothic style in the 13th century. The Town Hall was constructed in the Renaissance style.
Piramida Hill with dominates at the northern border of the city. Ruins of the first Maribor castle from the 11th century and a chapel from the 19th century are situated there. The hill offers an easy-to-reach view of Maribor and its southern hinterland with the Drava River.
In the 2000s, plans were made for a new modern business, residential and entertainment district, called the Drava Doors (Dravska vrata) and nicknamed the Maribor Manhattan. This project included many new exclusive residential apartments, offices and conference halls, a green and recreational space, and other objects. It also included a 111 metres (364 ft) tall skyscraper that would be the tallest building in Slovenia. Due to lack of financial assets, the project is on hold.
In 2008, the Studenci Footbridge (Studenška brv) was renovated upon the plan by the Ponting company. In 2008, at the 3rd International Conference Footbridge in Porto, its design was awarded the prestige Footbridge Award.
In 2010, Maribor organised an international architectural competition ECC Maribor 2012 – Drava 2012 to gather proposals for design and reconstruction of the Drava banks, construction of a new art gallery, and for a new footbridge. Its jury received about 400 solutions for the three projects. The footbridge and the river embankments will be built in the near future, whereas the art gallery was replaced with the cultural centre MAKS, currently under construction.
In 2011, construction started near the Drava of a new modern Faculty of Medicine. It was designed by the arhitect Boris Podrecca and is expected to be completed in 2013.
There are plans to renovate the Maribor Public Library and the Town Hall Square (Rotovški trg) at which it stands. In addition, the renovation of Maribor Island (Mariborski otok) on the Drava is planned.
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