Maribor

Maribor was attested in historical sources as Marpurch c. 1145 (and later as Marchburch, Marburc, and Marchpurch), and is a compound of Middle High German march 'march (borderland)' + burc 'fortress'. In modern times, the town's German name is Marburg an der Drau (pronounced [ˈmaʁbʊʁk ʔan deːɐ̯ ˈdʁaʊ̯]; literally, 'Marburg on the Drava'). The Slovene name Maribor is an artificial Slovenized creation, coined by Stanko Vraz in 1836. Vraz created the name in the spirit of Illyrianism by analogy with the name Brandenburg (cf. Lower Sorbian Bramborska). Locally, the town was known in Slovene as Marprk or Marprog. The name Maribor was accepted among Slovenes in 1861, when Lovro Toman published a song named Mar i bor, giving the name a Slovene compound Mar ('to care') + i ('and') + bor ('to fight for'). …

The oldest known remnants of settlement in the Maribor area date back to the 5th millennium BC, at the time of the Chalcolithic. With the construction of Maribor's western bypass, larger settlements were discovered dating from the 44th to 42nd century BC. Another settlement from around the same period was also discovered in Spodnje Hoče, a town right next to Maribor and another below Melje Hill near Malečnik. Another settlement below Melje Hill was also found dating to the 4th millennium BC. A more intense period of settlement of the Maribor area occurred in the 3rd millennium BC with the advent of the Bronze Age. In the 13th to 12th century BC, in the age of the Urnfield culture, new settlements were found in Pekel. Around 1000 BC, new settlers moved to the Maribor area. …

On the Drava River lies Maribor Island (Mariborski otok). The oldest public bath, still an important and often visited place in Maribor, is located on the island. There are two hills in Maribor: Calvary Hill and Pyramid Hill, both surrounded by vineyards. The latter dominates the northern border of the city. Ruins of the first Maribor castle from the 11th century and a chapel from the 19th century also stand there. The hill offers an easily accessible scenic overlook of Maribor and the countryside to the south over the Drava River. The city of Maribor is divided into 11 districts (Slovene: mestne četrti) of the City Municipality of Maribor. The Drava River separates the districts of Center, Koroška Vrata, and Ivan Cankar to the north from other districts south of it. The various city districts are connected by four road bridges, a rail bridge, and a pedestrian bridge. …