Basilica of Our Mother of Mercy

The Basilica of the Mother of Mercy stands beside the Drava River in Maribor, Slovenia. Built in the late 19th century in the Romanesque Revival style, it was designed by the Viennese architect Richard Jordan with Josef Schmalzhofer supervising construction. Two tall towers rise above the front, each reaching 58 metres, and the interior follows the same architectural vision. The church replaced an earlier Capuchin church on the same site, which had served the growing Catholic community since the 17th century. In 1906 Pope Pius X elevated it to the rank of a minor basilica, a status still celebrated by a marble plaque above the main door. The basilica holds a revered image of the Mother of Mercy, a painting brought for repair in 1746 and said to have worked its first miracle in Graz. After temporary stays in Hengsberg and the Minorite church in Maribor, the image found its home here following the closure of the Minorite monastery during the Josephine reforms. The high altar itself is crafted from seventeen kinds of marble, and the pulpit bears reliefs of early Church Fathers. Six side altars line the nave, each contributing to the rich devotional space. Inside, visitors find a three-aisled basilica with a grand organ installed in 1900 by Josef Brandl and later enlarged by Andrej Benda and Franc Jenko. The organ now has 41 registers spread across three manuals. The Franciscan friars continue to care for the parish, welcoming pilgrims to the shrine of the Mother of Mercy. The adjoining two-storey Franciscan monastery, also designed by Jordan and Schmalzhofer, completes the complex.