St. Maximilian of Celje and his martyrdom tell us about the first traces of ancient Christianity on the ground of the ancient city by Savinja. Christianity was so alive that soon the first diocese was founded, as the Celje bishops Gaudencio and Joannes were well-known. The ancient basilica, which was found in today's main post office building, and the baptistery, the foundations of which are still preserved and visible, tell us about the Christian past of Roman Celeia.
It is certainly the parish of St. Danijela was created as early as the 12th century, when the first large parishes of the then Ogle Patriarchate were created, as the first known pastor was already known in 1129, that is Rudbert. Certainly, at that time there was already a church here, which was called the parish church for many centuries.
On December 12, 1761, Pope Clement XIII. renamed the parish church to Opatija. From then until 2021, the parish priest of St. Danijel in Celje was also called abbot.
Already at the beginning of the 14th century, a three-nave Romanesque Basilica stood on this site, which was also painted for the first time in the same century.
During the time of Hermann I, the church was vaulted with Gothic vaults and painted with Friulian ornamental paintings, as we can see on the ceiling even today.
At the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. the chapel of the Holy Three Kings is added to the church, which is soon renamed the chapel of the Sorrowful Mother of God because of the famous statue of Celjska Pieta (Celjska Compassion), which was made by an unknown Tyrolean sculptor at the time. Certainly, this chapel is a gem of Gothic, known far and wide.
The church was subsequently remodelled several times, especially at the beginning of the 17th century, when it was almost completely baroque.
At the beginning of the 18th century. gets the church south and the north chapel. South Chapel of St. Francis is still standing, the northern chapel of St. the cross was destroyed by the last bombing of World War II.
In 1935, the restoration of the interior of the church began under the direction of Dr. France Stele. In doing so, they discovered the original frescoes on the arches of the nave and the presbytery, which can still be seen today. The restaurant was interrupted by the war, it continued in 1963 and ended in 1969.
In 2000, the northern chapel was reconstructed, since then called the Slomšek chapel, since the relics of St. Anton Martin Slomšek. This happened on the 200th anniversary of Slomšek s birth. So today, in the cathedral church, we are witnesses to a cultural and artistic monument, which was preserved and handed down to us by our ancestors, which is why we can be proud of it.