Cathedral of the Assumption

A 17th-century Jesuit church, cathedral since 1997, with a gilded altar wall.

Sight

Photo: Krzysztof Golik / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Why it is worth your time

The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was raised as a Jesuit church in the middle of the 17th century, at a time when Varazdin was the richest city of northern Croatia, and it received cathedral status only in 1997, with the founding of the Varazdin diocese. The facade is early baroque with a triumphal arch as its entrance, and the interior belongs among those one remembers: the high altar, almost twenty metres tall, gilded and full of statues, is one of the largest baroque altars in Croatia and fills the entire sanctuary wall.

Beside it are side altars, a pulpit and the organ played during the Varazdin Baroque Evenings, a festival that every autumn brings early music ensembles from across Europe; the church's acoustics are the reason the festival's central hall is here. The cathedral stands a few steps from the main square, entry is free, and the best moment to visit is the morning, when light enters through the southern windows and the gilding flares.