Ljudski vrt, Football stadium in Maribor, Slovenia.
Ljudski vrt is a football stadium in the Maribor City Municipality in Slovenia. The facility consists of a main stand with concrete arches and three newer covered sections that together hold just under 13,000 spectators.
The area outside Maribor's walls held a cemetery for centuries before a public park was planted in 1873, giving the ground its name. The stadium opened on 12 July 1952, designed by Milan Černigoj, with concrete terraces added around the pitch by 1958. Boris Pipan joined Černigoj to design the west grandstand with its concrete arch, built from May 1960 to 1962. NK Maribor, founded on 12 December 1960, played its first match there on 25 June 1961.
The name Ljudski vrt means "People's Garden", taken from the public park planted on the site in 1873. The stadium also serves as a concert venue; its acoustics drew about 6,000 people to a performance of the musical Zorba the Greek. The main grandstand's concrete arch is protected as an architectural and historical landmark.
The stadium sits about a ten minute walk from Maribor's main square and is easy to reach on foot. Regular train connections from Ljubljana bring visitors to the city in two to three hours.
The facility underwent major renovation between 2006 and 2008, while the historic main stand from 1961 was kept intact. The Slovenian Institute for Heritage Protection recognized the architectural significance of the concrete structure and granted it official protection status.
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