Plague Column (Maribor)

Plague Memorial, Main Square

The Plague Memorial (Template:Lang-sl) is a monument in the Main Square (Template:Lang-sl) of the city of Maribor, Slovenia, erected by "pious burghers" in gratitude for the end of a 1680 plague epidemic that had claimed a third of the city's population.

The original monument was built in 1681; the current one is a 1743 replacement by local sculptor Jožef Štraub. It is considered among his finest work, and one of the best examples of baroque art in Slovenia.

It is made entirely of white marble, and consists of an ornate rectagular pedestal which supports a corinthian column bearing a gilded statue of the Virgin Mary, crowned with twelve stars and standing upon the moon (a reference to Revelation 12:1). At its base, the column is surrounded by six saints to whom the townspeople had prayed for intercession:

• St. Francis of Assissi
• St. Sebastian
• St. Jacob the Elder
• St. Anthony of Padua
• St. Roch
• St. Francis Xavier

The monument was later surrounded by an ornamental stone fence.