St Nicholas's Cathedral, the Roman Baroque church Ljubljana built in five years

From fishermen’s church to cathedral

According to the Archdiocese of Ljubljana, the site of today’s cathedral held, in the mid-13th century, a simple Romanesque church that the town’s fishermen dedicated to St Nicholas, their patron. It is first recorded in 1262 and was a basilica with three naves. After a fire in 1361 it was given Gothic vaults. In 1461 the diocese of Ljubljana was founded, the church was enlarged several times and in 1469 it was probably burned by the Turks.

In the 17th century, as Ljubljana began to take on its Baroque look, the old church no longer suited contemporary taste. Bishop Jožef Rabatta wanted to renew it in 1670, but there was no money and only a new chancel was built. The push came at the end of that century from the Academia Operosorum, a society of scholars founded in 1693 that steered the city’s art towards the Italian Baroque. The cathedral is, says the archdiocese, its greatest achievement, and Dean Janez Anton Dolničar did most to get it built.

A Roman cathedral without its architect on site

Building started in spring 1701 and by August 1706 Mass was being said. The first design was by the Capuchin Florenciano, but the Jesuit Andrea Pozzo reworked it on the model of the great churches of Rome. Pozzo never came to Ljubljana, so the builders had a big say, above all the Venetian Francesco Bombasi, who designed the exterior. The painter Giulio Quaglio sketched the towers and Matej Medved later raised the dome. The plan is a Latin cross, with a hall-like nave lined with chapels and the dome over the crossing.

What to see inside the cathedral

Quaglio and his workshop painted the interior until 1723, and that is what strikes you as you walk in. There are sculptures by Angelo Putti, including the bishops of Emona, and Francesco Robba’s altar of the Blessed Sacrament, with two lively angels in the transept; Robba also carved the fountain of the three rivers. The dome was painted by Matevž Langus in the mid-19th century. In the chancel, the painting of St Nicholas is by the Venetian Pietro Liberi, and the canons’ stalls of 1774 carry fifteen medallions with Christ at the centre.

The 20th century came in too. In the 1950s Jože Plečnik designed the bishop’s throne, the baptismal font and the Chapel of the Cross by the pulpit; if he interests you, see the rest of Plečnik’s Ljubljana. After the chancel was remodelled in 1970, the sculptor France Gorše added reliefs depicting the Way of the Cross.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Liubliana before prices climb.

The bronze doors and visiting

The two doors are what I would not miss. The main one, by the sculptor Tone Demšar, depicts the history of Slovenia and was made to mark 1,250 years of Christianity in the country. The side door, by Mirsad Begić, bears portraits of the bishops.

The cathedral is in Ljubljana Old Town, beside Plečnik’s market halls and a step from the Triple Bridge and Prešeren Square. It is a working church, so I would avoid Mass times. I could not find published visiting hours that I was able to read, so check on the spot.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Liubliana before prices climb.