Mount Saint Mary (, ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 115. or ''Kallenberg''), originally known as Holm, is an

inselberg An inselberg or monadnock ( ) is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa, a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, an ...

in the north of

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, the capital of

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. The mountain is part of the city's

Šmarna Gora District The Šmarna Gora District (), or simply Šmarna Gora, is a district () of the City Municipality of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It has been named after Mount Saint Mary, an inselberg An inselberg or monadnock ( ) is an isolated rock h ...

. It is the highest hill in the city and a popular hiking destination. The mountain has two peaks: Mount Saint Mary (; ) to the east and Grmada () to the west. It resembles the humps of a

Bactrian camel The Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus''), also known as the Mongolian camel, domestic Bactrian camel or two-humped camel, is a camel native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped drome ...

or woman's

breast The breasts are two prominences located on the upper ventral region of the torso among humans and other primates. Both sexes develop breasts from the same embryology, embryological tissues. The relative size and development of the breasts is ...

Name and history

The toponym contains the archaic contraction ''Šmarna'' for ''Sveta Marijina'' 'St. Mary's'. The name of the western peak, ''Grmada'', literally means 'heap, pile (of wood for a bonfire)'. The slightly lower eastern peak lends its name to the mountain as a whole. The mountain was first mentioned in written sources in 1296. The bell tower on the top of the mountain rings each day half an hour before midday. The ringing of the bell commemorates the repulse of an Ottoman raid. The higher Grmada was used to burn bonfires to warn people of incoming Ottoman raids in the past. In the late 17th century, the mountain and the church upon it were described by the polyhistor

Johann Weikhard von Valvasor Johann Weikhard Freiherr von Valvasor or Johann Weichard Freiherr von Valvasor (, ) or simply Valvasor (baptised on 28 May 1641 – September or October 1693) was a natural historian and polymath from Carniola, present-day Slovenia, and a Li ...

in ''

The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola ''The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola'' (, ) is an encyclopedia published in Nuremberg in 1689 by the polymath Johann Weikhard von Valvasor. It is the most important work on his homeland, the Duchy of Carniola, the present-day central part of Slov ...

'' as a pilgrimage destination.

Flora

The southern slope of the mountain is wooded with downy oak and hop hornbeam, while the northern slope is covered by a beech forest. Altogether, over 830 floral and 260 fungal species have been identified on the mountain. A circular forest

educational trail An educational trail (or sometimes educational path), nature trail or nature walk is a specially developed hiking trail or footpath that runs through the countryside, along which there are marked stations or stops next to points of natural, techn ...

set up in 1974 connects the two peaks of Mount Saint Mary.

Church

The pilgrimage church on Mount Saint Mary was built in the

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

in 1711–12 and replaced an older

Gothic church Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

(first mentioned in 1324). It was built by the master builder Gregor Maček, Sr. The large octagonal nave and the smaller square chancel are connected into a single church space covered by two domes. The church has five altars. The frescoes were painted in the 1840s by the Slovenian painter Matevž Langus, whose illusionistic style of painting was an attempt to open up the real church space into the supernatural.

Surroundings

The hill is surrounded by the villages of Vikrče and

Spodnje Pirniče Spodnje Pirniče (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 114.) is a village on the left bank of the Sava River in the Municipality of Med ...

to the west, Zavrh pod Šmarno Goro to the north, and the former villages (now part of Ljubljana) of

Šmartno pod Šmarno Goro Šmartno pod Šmarno Goro (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 115.) is a formerly independent settlement in the northern part of the c ...

and

Tacen Tacen (; in older sources also ''Tacenj'',''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 114–115. ) is a formerly independent settlement in the n ...

to the southeast. In clear conditions, the mountain offers a view across much of Slovenia, from

Mount Triglav Triglav (; ; ), with an elevation of , is the highest mountain in Slovenia and the highest peak of the Julian Alps. The mountain is the pre-eminent symbol of the Slovene nation, appearing on the Coat of arms of Slovenia, coat of arms and Flag ...

and Mount Stol on the northeastern Austrian–Italian border to Mount Krim, Mount Snežnik, and Trdina Peak () on the Croatian border to the southwest. Nearby hills include Bare Hill (), Tošč Face (), Rožnik, and Rašica.

References

External links

Mount Saint Mary website
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{{Authority control Hills of Slovenia Geography of Ljubljana Šmarna Gora District