{{Short description|Mountain}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Mount Saint Mary | native_name = {{native name|sl|Šmarna gora}} | image = Ljubljana (169) (3897559690).jpg | image_caption = View of Mount Saint Mary from Castle Hill | elevation_m = 676 | elevation_ref = | prominence_m = | prominence_ref = | map = Slovenia | map_caption = | label_position = right | listing = | location = Slovenia | range = | coordinates = {{coord|46|7|47|N|14|27|49|E|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_ref = | topo = | type = | age = | first_ascent = | easiest_route = }} '''Mount Saint Mary'''<ref>Bratina Jurkovič, Nataša. 2014. "[https://urbani-izziv.uirs.si/Portals/uizziv/papers/urbani-izziv-en-2014-25-01-003.pdf Perception, Experience and the Use of Public Urban Spaces by Residents of Urban Neighbourhoods]". ''Urbani izziv'' 25(1): 107–125, p. 117.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Osti |first1=Josip |title=All Loves Are Extraordinary |date=2018 |publisher=Gatekeeper |location=Columbus, OH |isbn=9781642372465 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hSt1DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Mount+Saint+Mary%22+%22ljubljana%22&pg=PT90 |access-date=November 2, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Owen |first1=Erika |title=20 One-Week Vacations to Take Between Jobs |url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/in-between-jobs-vacations |access-date=November 2, 2018 |work=Travel & Leisure |agency=Meredith Corporation |date=August 5, 2016}}</ref> ({{langx|sl|Šmarna gora}}, {{langx|de|Großkahlenberg}}<ref>''Laibach'' (map, 1:75,000). 1918. Vienna: K.u.k. Militärgeographisches Institut.</ref><ref name="Leksikon">''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 115.</ref> or ''Kallenberg''<ref name=Torkar />), originally known as '''Holm''',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Badjura |first1=Rudolf |author-link=Rudolf Badjura |title=Ljudska geografija: terensko izrazoslovje |date=1953 |publisher=Državna Založba Slovenije |location=Ljubljana |page=117}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smarnagora.com/index_en.php?page=ogori |title=About Šmarna gora |work=Šmarna gora |access-date=6 September 2015}}</ref> is an inselberg in the north of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The mountain is part of the city's Šmarna Gora District. It is the highest hill in the city and a popular hiking destination.<ref name="Geopedia2012-01-30">{{cite web |url=http://geopedia.si/#T105_L410_F10110084_x459056_y109604_s15_b4 |title=Settlements: Ljubljana |publisher=Geopedia.si |access-date=30 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.burger.si/SmarnaGora/uvod_ENG.html |title=Šmarna gora |work=Slovenia-Landmarks |first=Boštjan |last=Burger |access-date=30 January 2012}}</ref>

The mountain has two peaks: Mount Saint Mary ({{lang|sl|Šmarna gora}}; {{convert|669|m|ft|disp=comma}}) to the east and Grmada ({{convert|676|m|ft|disp=comma|abbr=on}}) to the west. It resembles the humps of a Bactrian camel or woman's breasts.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.ljubljana.si/assets/Uploads/publication/6317/varna-pot-februar-2013-finalno-web.pdf |title=Gora na pragu Ljubljane |language=sl|trans-title=The Mountain at the Threshold of Ljubljana |journal=Varna Pot |volume=12 |issue=4 |date=December 2012 |publisher=Svet za preventivo in vzgojo v cestnem prometu Mestne občine Ljubljana |issn=1580-6995 |quote=Njena vrhova spominjata na grbo dvogrbe kamele, marsikoga pa na žensko oprsje.}}</ref>

==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.<ref name=Torkar>{{cite journal |url=https://journals.uni-lj.si/linguistica/article/download/6306/6034/0 |last=Torkar |first=Silvo |title=Nemško-slovenski stiki v slovenski toponimiji |language=sl |trans-title=German-Slovene Contact in Slovene Toponymy |journal=Linguistica |date=2015 |volume=55 |issue=1 |doi=10.4312/linguistica.55.1.161-171 |pages=161–171|doi-access=free }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.smarnagora.com/index.php?page=ogori&pg=zgodovina|title=Smarna gora|website=www.smarnagora.com|access-date=2016-04-13}}</ref> 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 in ''The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola'' as a pilgrimage destination.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.etno-muzej.si/files/etnolog/pdf/0354-0316_4_knez_romanje.pdf |last=Knez |first=Darko |title=Romanje na Šmarno goro |language=sl |trans-title=Šmarna Gora – A Place of Pilgrimage |journal=Etnolog: Bulletin of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum |issn=0354-0316 |volume=4 |year=1994 |id={{COBISS|ID=48713728}} |pages=139–162}}</ref>

==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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smarnagora.com/index_en.php?page=ogori&pg=rastline |title=The Flora of Šmarna Gora |work=Šmarna gora |access-date=27 March 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://bijh.zrc-sazu.si/sl/publikacije/rastlinski-svet-smarne-gore-z-grmado |first=Šuštar |last=France |title=Rastlinski svet Šmarne Gore z Grmado |language=sl |trans-title=The Floral Diversity of Šmarna Gora with Grmada |year=1998 |publisher=Jovan Hadži Institute of Biology |isbn=961-6182-55-2}}</ref> A circular forest educational trail set up in 1974 connects the two peaks of Mount Saint Mary.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://aktivni.metropolitan.si/ostali-sporti/hoja-in-pohodnistvo/kratki-dnevi-kratki-izleti-kaj-vse-morate-vedeti-o-smarni-gori/ |title=Kratki dnevi – kratki izleti: Kaj vse morate vedeti o Šmarni gori? |newspaper=Aktivni.si |date=16 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://enovicke.acs.si/en/50-years-of-forest-learning-trails-in-slovenia/ |title=50 Years of Forest Learning Trails in Slovenia |newspaper=SIAE Newsletter |publisher=Slovenian Institute for Adult Education |date=22 March 2024}}</ref>

==Church== thumb|View of Mount Saint Mary from the air The pilgrimage church on Mount Saint Mary was built in the Baroque style in 1711–12 and replaced an older Gothic church (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 to the west, Zavrh pod Šmarno Goro to the north, and the former villages (now part of Ljubljana) of Šmartno pod Šmarno Goro and Tacen to the southeast. In clear conditions, the mountain offers a view across much of Slovenia, from Mount Triglav and Mount Stol on the northeastern Austrian–Italian border to Mount Krim, Mount Snežnik, and Trdina Peak ({{langx|sl|Trdinov vrh}}) on the Croatian border to the southwest. Nearby hills include Bare Hill ({{lang|sl|Golo brdo}}), Tošč Face ({{lang|sl|Toško čelo}}), Rožnik, and Rašica.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.smarnagora.com/index_en.php Mount Saint Mary website] * {{Commons category-inline|Mount Saint Mary}} <br /> {{Ljubljana}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Hills of Slovenia Category:Geography of Ljubljana Category:Šmarna Gora District