Celje Cathedral, Gothic cathedral in Celje, Slovenia.
Celje Cathedral is a Gothic structure featuring three aisles, a flat ceiling, and rib vaulting added in the 14th century. The interior displays numerous medieval gravestones on its walls and preserves 15th-century frescoes depicting Biblical scenes.
A 12th-century Romanesque single-nave church stood on the site before the present building was erected around 1306 as a three-aisled basilica with a flat ceiling and a nuns' gallery. After 1379 it was rib-vaulted and given a bell tower and presbytery; the Chapel of the Sorrowful Mother of God was added around 1400. The side aisles were raised to the central nave's height by the mid-16th century, and Baroque side chapels followed.
The chapel was originally dedicated to the Three Kings before becoming the Chapel of the Sorrowful Mother of God. Its walls carry carved consoles with medieval animal motifs — a winged mermaid, a pelican with chicks, an ostrich with young — and a Gothic Pietà of about 1415 attributed to Salzburg masters. The stained glass is by Stane Kregar.
Visitors should check regular opening hours and can join guided tours for better understanding of the details. The medieval gravestones on both interior and exterior walls are easily accessible and worth examining closely.
Hermann von Cilli, the 39th bishop of Freising, died in Celje on 13 December 1421 after an operation and was buried in the church; his monument now stands in the presbytery on the Gospel side. The chapel he dedicated in 1420 holds a carved wooden Pietà of about 1415, attributed to Salzburg masters.
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