Novo Mesto Cathedral is located on a hill above the Krka River. It is distinguished by a combination of Gothic and Baroque architecture and a broken longitudinal axis, because the presbytery is higher than the nave. The original church was first mentioned in 1428, although it was standing already before. The three-pole presbytery with its quintuple axis ending has been preserved from the time.
In 1493, when the chapter was established, a reconstruction was started and lasted until 1623. In 1576, the building was damaged in a fire. Its renovation was financed by the provost Polidoro de Montagnana, who ordered the construction of a new high altar and acquired the oil painting The Vision of Saint Nicholas (c. 1582) by Venetian Mannerist painter Tintoretto to stand on it. In 1621, the nave area with Baroque arches and three Baroque chapels on each side were constructed. In the 19th century, the church was gothicised. In 1733, new side altars with paintings by Valentin Metzinger were erected. In 1860, a new polygonal belfry was erected in the shell of an older one on the west side of the church. The main altar was renovated in 1868 by Matija Tomc. In 1901, the presbytery was ornamented by Matija Koželj.
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Derbent is the southernmost city in Russia, occupying the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains connecting the Eurasian steppes to the north and the Iranian Plateau to the south. Derbent claims to be the oldest city in Russia with historical documentation dating to the 8th century BCE. Due to its strategic location, over the course of history, the city changed ownership many times, particularly among the Persian, Arab, Mongol, Timurid, Shirvan and Iranian kingdoms.
Derbent has archaeological structures over 5,000 years old. As a result of this geographic peculiarity, the city developed between two walls, stretching from the mountains to the sea. These fortifications were continuously employed for a millennium and a half, longer than any other extant fortress in the world.
A traditionally and historically Iranian city, the first intensive settlement in the Derbent area dates from the 8th century BC. The site was intermittently controlled by the Persian monarchs, starting from the 6th century BC. Until the 4th century AD, it was part of Caucasian Albania which was a satrap of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. In the 5th century Derbent functioned as a border fortress and the seat of Sassanid Persians. Because of its strategic position on the northern branch of the Silk Route, the fortress was contested by the Khazars in the course of the Khazar-Arab Wars. In 654, Derbent was captured by the Arabs.
The Sassanid fortress does not exist any more, as the famous Derbent fortress as it stands today was built from the 12th century onward. Derbent became a strong military outpost and harbour of the Sassanid empire. During the 5th and 6th centuries, Derbent also became an important center for spreading the Christian faith in the Caucasus.
The site continued to be of great strategic importance until the 19th century. Today the fortifications consist of two parallel defence walls and Naryn-Kala Citadel. The walls are 3.6km long, stretching from the sea up to the mountains. They were built from stone and had 73 defence towers. 9 out of the 14 original gates remain.
In Naryn-Kala Citadel most of the old buildings, including a palace and a church, are now in ruins. It also holds baths and one of the oldest mosques in the former USSR.
In 2003, UNESCO included the old part of Derbent with traditional buildings in the World Heritage List.