Exterior The church, oriented towards the east, is recognisable by its octagonal dome above the
crossing at the eastern side, and two belfries at the western side. The dome with a
cupola that replaced a painted one in 1841, was built by Matej Medved, whereas carpenter works were carried out by . The belfries were built in 1705–06 and have been decorated with gilded apples. Various
relics and
parchment inscriptions have been stored in them. The church towers have six bells, including the second oldest bell in Slovenia, dated to 1326, a bell by Gasparo de Franchi from 1706, and five bells by the Strojne Livarne factory. Between the belfries, there is a segmented semicircular
gable, a 1989 reconstruction of the original Baroque gable that was after the
1895 Ljubljana earthquake replaced by the builder Franz Faleschini with a triangular one according to plans by the architect . The facades of the church are decorated with 19th-century and 20th-century niches containing statues of bishops and saints, with Baroque frescoes, and with ancient Roman tombstones and some others named the Thalnitscher stone monument collection (), which was created in the early 18th century at the initiative of the historian Johann Gregor Thalnitscher. On the southern wall there is a side entrance in the eastern part and a brightly decorated
Gothic pietà in the western part, a copy of one that used to be in the earlier Gothic cathedral. A
sundial with
Roman numerals and a
Latin motto ( – "You don't know the day or the hour"), dated to 1826, also decorates the southern facade. It was renovated in 1989. The western facade with the main entrance is decorated with a plaque to the right of the entrance bearing a
ceiling boss from the old Ljubljana cathedral in the form of Christ's head and the Latin inscription " ("old memories of the cathedral church"). There are six
sandstone statues of bishops and saints in the niches of the cathedral. The niches of the southern facade contain the Gothic pietà, and statues of
Saint Hermagoras and
Saint Fortunatus, made of
sandstone in 1872 by the sculptor
Franc Ksaver Zajec. The niches of the western facade (next to the main entrance) contain a statue of
Thomas Aquinas and a statue of
Saint Bonaventura by the sculptor
Ivan Pengov (1912), the northern facade's niches contain a statue of
Sigismund von Lamberg, the first bishop of Ljubljana, and of Ljubljana's Bishop
Thomas Chrön, both created in 1913, also by Pengov. The entrances have
bronze sculptured doors from 1996, created at the 1250s anniversary of Christianity in the Slovenian territory and the visit of
Pope John Paul II. The front door, now named the Slovene Door, bears a relief by with a depiction of
Slovene history to commemorate the 1250th anniversary of
Christianity in Slovenia. The side door, now named the Ljubljana Door, was redesigned by , who decorated them with portraits of the
20th-century bishops of Ljubljana. Subsequently, an automatic electric door has been added beyond the main door.
Interior Inside much of the original Baroque decor remains with
frescoes painted by Giulio Quaglio between 1703–1706 and later 1721–1723. Other notable decorations in the cathedral include the altar angels by the brothers
Paolo and
Giuseppe Groppelli on the right part of the nave (1711) and by
Francesco Robba on the left (1745–1750).
Angelo Putti created the statues of the four bishops of
Emona seated under the dome beam (1712–1713), the bust of (1715), and the reliefs of angels in the spherical triangles at the altar of the Holy Trinity. The dome was painted by in 1843–44. The fresco in the cupola depicts the
Holy Spirit and
angels, whereas the frescos on the walls of the dome depict the
coronation of the Virgin and the glorification of
Saint Nicholas, surrounded by angels and saints. In the 1950s, the architect
Jože Plečnik made plans for new church furnishings. ==Gallery==