Resident of Ljubljana. Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia. Slovenian National Opera and Ballet Theater

Tourists usually consider Ljubljana as a stopover point on the way to ski, sea or thermal resorts. The town is small, they believe, two hours is enough to simply walk around the historical center and put a tick on the map of your travels.

But, as they say, small is the spool, but expensive. There are as many attractions in miniature Ljubljana as there are poppy seeds in a gibanica pie - and you need to savor them as leisurely as a delicious Slovenian dessert.

And it’s also homely, cozy, green and quiet city- what you need for family vacation. This is complemented by modern hotels, traditional restaurants and the hospitality of the townspeople.

All in all, A holiday with children in Ljubljana can be called fabulous: that’s what we’ll call it.

Ljubljana on the map of Slovenia

The city of Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and the largest locality countries. The distance from Ljubljana to Maribor Pohorje is 130 km, to Lake Bled - 55 km, to thermal resorts Thalasso Strunjan, Terme Catež and Terme Olimia - about 110 km.

The place where Ljubljana is located is mentioned in ancient Greek myths. If you believe the legends, it was here that Jason, returning from Colchis with the Golden Fleece, fought with a formidable dragon and defeated him.

The latter, it seems, was the only winner, becoming a symbol of Ljubljana. The image of a dragon is found at every step: on the coat of arms of the Slovenian capital, on buildings, in store windows, on souvenir layouts and even pharmacies.

The facts say this. Settlements on the banks of the Ljubljanica River, where it now stands main city Slovenia, appeared about 4 thousand years ago.

In the 1st century BC. e. Here the settlement of Emona arose, which became part of the Roman Empire and existed happily for several centuries.

The first written mention of a city with the name Ljubljana dates back to 1144, and already at the beginning of the 14th century the city was called Laibach, since it was part of the Habsburg monarchy. The name "Ljubljana" returned in 1918.

Vacation with children

How much time to spend on vacation in Ljubljana - a day, two, a week? In a day you can gallop around the main attractions and a couple of museums. In two - do the same thing, but slowly. But there is a risk that you won’t have time to catch the charm of the city at this pace.

Therefore, when Ljubljana Castle is examined, the bridges are counted and all the dragons are caught (on camera), try to slow down and see how the city lives.

How families with children walk along the alleys of endless city parks, how SUP surfers train on the Ljubljanica River, how the market is noisy, where they sell farm vegetables, cheeses and sausages. There is so much peace in all this - and this is already a reason to come to Ljubljana with children.

Another beauty of the Slovenian capital is the opportunity to relax with your child the way you like. If you like excursions, get ready for surprises: there are many museums in Ljubljana, and some display world-famous finds - for example, the world's oldest wheel.

If you are taking a preschooler on a trip, We suggest alternating excursions with entertainment- , And children's city professions that any child will like. And with infant You can always take a walk in parks, squares or along the embankment.

And in Ljubljana there are excellent playgrounds. IN good weather Children enjoy frolicking on the playground in Tivoli Park, and in case of bad weather, you can plan a trip to the children's Mala ulica center.

An additional plus: in the center of Ljubljana there are many public toilets - clean and free of charge.

When is the best time to go?

Is it so easy to choose the best time to go to Ljubljana? If you focus only on the weather forecast, it seems simple.

Summer in the city is quite hot, winter can be damp and windy, but the second half of spring and the beginning of autumn delight with warm and sunny weather. Spring and autumn are especially suitable for traveling with a baby to Ljubljana.

But tourist season in Ljubljana is not tied to the vagaries of the weather. In winter, those who travel to the Slovenian capital come to ski resorts, in the summer tourists stroll around the city, whose ultimate goal is to relax on the Adriatic coast or at thermal resorts.

And for a holiday with a child, you can easily choose December - for the magic of Christmas markets and the Santa Claus parade (yes, that’s right), or February, when the city hosts a dragon festival, or March - on St. George’s Day, Slovenians welcome spring, and parents with children they launch boats with candles along the river.

In summer, the city hosts a festival of light, Argonaut Days, a holiday national costumes and a festival of medieval culture. In short, whenever you arrive, Ljubljana will find something to please you with.

Weather and climate

The mild climate of Ljubljana is like a gift to tourists: the capital of Slovenia awaits guests at any time of the year. Winter without snow and frost, fine spring and autumn, hot summer - which season do you like best?

Winter weather in Ljubljana is an alternation of sunny and cloudy days, rain instead of snowfall and an air temperature of +1-8°C during the day and -1-3°C at night. Occasionally in January and February it gets cold at night to -7-10° C: then the city briefly puts on a snowy outfit.

Already in March, the frosts are left behind, and the air warms up to +7-12° C.

But it is better to plan a vacation in Ljubljana for the second half of spring: by this time the temperature rises to +16-24 ° C, sunny weather sets in, and infrequent rains only benefit the city’s gardens and parks.

Summer in Ljubljana is hot. During the day, the thermometer easily reaches +30° C, and it only feels cool in the evenings. The sun is shining regularly over the city, gloomy and rainy days- very rare.

In autumn there are more rainy days, that is, about a dozen for the entire season. The weather is clear more often, which promises best vacation in Ljubljana with children. The temperature in September, as a rule, does not fall below +20° C. In October it gets cold to +14-17° C, and in November to +5-10° C.

Nutrition

Did you know that Ljubljana has a special menu? Here you are offered not only to get acquainted with Slovenian cuisine, but to feel the taste of the Old Town - in the literal sense.

Here is a list of typical Ljubljana dishes: salad with tender leaves of lamb's lettuce (or mung lettuce), beef broth with homemade noodles and herbs, fried potatoes, beef and potato goulash, štrukli with sweet and savory filling, and for dessert - pancakes with cottage cheese and tarragon, chocolate cake “Ljubljana” and layer cake “Gibanica” with poppy seeds, cottage cheese, nuts and apples.

All these dishes are suitable for children who are already eating from an adult table.

And if you want to try a local delicacy, order fried frog legs. In Slovenia they are loved no less than in France.

Transport

The best way to explore old cities is hiking. But public transport in Ljubljana can also come in handy: if you want to visit the zoo or Botanical Garden, the most convenient way to travel is by bus.

Buses in Ljubljana run strictly on schedule, travel costs about 1.20 euros, and there is a discount on tickets for children 6-14 years old.

To pay for travel you will need to purchase special e-ticket- Urbana card, this can be done in special terminals - urban ATMs, in ticket offices, newsstands and post offices.

To pay for the fare when boarding the bus, place your card on a special reader. After payment, you can make transfers within 90 minutes without additional costs.

The Ljubljana Card helps you save on trips and excursions. Except free entry to many museums, a zoo, a botanical garden and an arboretum, the card will allow you to use Ljubljana's public transport, funicular, and pleasure boat for free.

The approximate cost of a card for 24, 48 or 72 hours is 28, 35 or 41 euros for an adult, 16, 21 or 24 euros for a child 6-14 years old.

To get around Ljubljana, many residents and visitors of the city use bicycles. This is not surprising: the Slovenian capital is one of the ten cities in the world with ideal conditions for cyclists.

Bicycles can be rented at Bicikelj self-service points, and the fee for this is symbolic - the first hour is free, the second hour is 1 euro.

Several have been developed for cyclists excursion routes: one of them leads from Fužine Castle along the Ljubljanica embankment to Old city, another introduces the works of Jozsef Plečnik, the third invites you to Tivoli Park.

It is best to call a taxi by phone - it is cheaper than hiring a car on the street. A trip within the city will cost from 10 euros, to the airport - from 20 euros.

In this article I will tell you about Ljubljana, the capital of the small European country of Slovenia. So that you can appreciate the scale, I will say that the area of ​​Slovenia is 4 times less area Leningrad region, and the population of the entire country is about two million people. The capital is home to 260 thousand people. For Slovenia, Ljubljana is of course the center of business and cultural activity, but you should not compare this city with St. Petersburg or Moscow, its scale is much smaller.

Compared to the coastal cities of Slovenia, Ljubljana is simply huge and completely different. The coastal cities we visited earlier (,) were strongly influenced by Italy and Venice in particular, but the center of the country is much more Slavic and Slovenian. We can say that only in Ljubljana we finally came close to a purely Slovenian flavor with a German accent, because Ljubljana was under Habsburg rule for about 700 years. The city even had a German name, Laibach, which is now almost forgotten.

There are strong earthquakes in Ljubljana. The most destructive earthquakes were in 1511 and 1895. After the first, the city was rebuilt in the Renaissance style, and after the second in the Art Nouveau style. So we can say that the Habsburgs and earthquakes largely determined the modern face of the capital of Slovenia. Slovenia became an independent state in 1991, before which it was a republic within Yugoslavia.

Our acquaintance with Ljubljana took place in mid-July, the weather suddenly deteriorated and we decided to spend time on educational tourism. During cold weather, exploring cities is much more pleasant than during sweltering heat. We left the village of Saint-Lazaretto on the Adriatic coast and in just over an hour we reached the capital of Slovenia. On the coast it was +19ºС and cloudy, but in Ljubljana it was only +16ºС. Ljubljana is in mountain valley, 298m above sea level, it is cooler there than on the shore. But this is only our special case; in summer in Ljubljana it often reaches over 30ºС, if the sun comes out the heat is guaranteed.

Of course, on a sunny day the photos would look better, but the weather is not in our control. We visited the city on Saturday, because we had heard a lot about the Saturday market in Ljubljana and examined Ljubljana Castle in detail, so my article will be more about the market and Ljubljana Castle, we didn’t go to Tivoli Park and the zoo, we just didn’t have time and the weather let us down .

There are many underground parking lots in the city, the cost is about 1.7-2 € per hour, and Ljubljana is so small that we walked from Republic Square to Ljubljana Castle in 20 minutes, slowly and actively looking around.

It so happened that we began our exploration of Ljubljana from the very communist square of the city, which turned out to be Republic Square. On the square there is a monument to the Uprising against the occupiers, the Ljubljana Palace of Congresses and a vast Cultural Center. All buildings are modern. Slovenians happily celebrate May 9 and interpret this date as the day of liberation from fascism, unlike some countries in Eastern Europe.

Monumental portal on the Parliament building (1954-1956) Ljubljana

The next square on our way was Congress Square; its architecture reminds me very much of Vienna. It was named after the 1821 Congress held in Ljubljana. The historical congress was attended by the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, the Russian Tsar Alexander I, the King of Naples, and Metternich, the Chancellor of Austria. The building of the University of Ljubljana was where the independence of Slovenia was declared in 1991.



University of Ljubljana building

The Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1701, operates in the Philharmonic building. Among the honorary members are such names as Haydn, Paganini, Brahms, Beethoven.



Philharmonic

The Ursuline Church, with its facade overlooking Congress Square, does not at all resemble a church, the domes, crosses are almost hidden from view, and the facade resembles an ordinary residential building or public building.



Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity

Our Sberbank operates in Slovenia; its office is located right in the building overlooking Congress Square.



Our Sberbank has a representative office in Ljubljana

Literally from Congress Square we walked out onto the Ljubljanica embankment - the main river artery of the capital of Slovenia; the spirit of Austria is much less noticeable on the embankment, it is more lively, relaxed and cozy.



Embankment of the Ljubljanica River

Pleasure boats sail along the river, cost river walk 8€, the boat will take you around the city and even a little outside the city, since Ljubljana is a small city.



Ljubljanica River

There, behind the house, there is a mountain on which Ljubljana Castle stands - an ancient castle.



Ljubljanica embankment

Between the First and Second World Wars, Joži Plečnik breathed new life into the city's architecture, many beautiful buildings and the bridges were built under his strict leadership.

And here is the famous Triple Bridge of Ljubljana. If you look from above, there are actually three bridges, it’s just that at first one bridge was built in 1842, after a while they decided that it was very narrow, it would be necessary to expand it, demolish it old bridge I didn’t want to, and the famous Slovenian architect Joži Plečnik proposed to build bridges on the sides of the existing one, and this is how Ljubljana’s most popular bridge turned out.



Triple bridge

Near the Triple Bridge is Prešeren Square, named after the national poet of Slovenia Franz Prešeren (1800-1849). Exactly this central place, almost like Palace Square in St. Petersburg. The Franciscan Church of the Annunciation is decorated in Baroque style and is very beautiful from the inside.



Franciscan Church of the Annunciation

There is a monument to Prešeren on Prešeren Square, it was erected in 1905, the square was then called the Square of Our Lady and the sculpture of the poet’s naked muse caused an explosion of Puritan indignation...



Monument to Prešeren

On the building of the first department store there is a banner in six languages: “Sale!”, in Cyrillic it is written: “Reduction!”, Google translation in action. The ancient Roman god of commerce, Mercury, decorates the store.



Centromerkur - the first city department store (1903)

It turns out that Ljubljana has become a locomotive of concrete construction; the famous Dragon Bridge was created from concrete in 1901. Dragons are the symbols of Ljubljana; their image appears on the city's coat of arms. Later we also visited, in this Polish city they also pay tribute to the dragon; a sculpture of a fire-breathing dragon stands on the banks of the Vistula. Dragons are used in coats of arms European countries and Russia.



City symbol Ljubljana dragon on the Dragon Bridge

Palace of the Seminary

Saturday market in Ljubljana

We love visiting markets; the market can sometimes tell much more about life in the city than all the attractions. It's always interesting to find out what they sell there and how much. The Saturday market is located on two adjacent squares between the Triple Bridge and the Dragon Bridge, almost at the very foot of Ljubljana Castle. This is the very center of the city; you probably won’t be able to get around this place in Ljubljana.



Market on the square, St. Nicholas Cathedral visible

Along the Ljubljanica River there is a market building built in the mid-20th century according to the design of Jože Plečnik; inside there is a fish market and several bars. Behind this building are the market squares.



Market building in Ljubljana

The fish market is much poorer. The assortment includes trout, sea bream 21€, flounder 16€, unpeeled shrimp 21€, large octopus 8€, mussels. The prices are high, pike at 20€ per kilo surprised us. In St. Petersburg, pike is considered one of the cheapest fish. They don’t sell tuna at all on the market in Ljubljana. And the trout in Slovenia is river trout, not as large as ours.



Fish market

Upon leaving the fish pavilion we took part in the festival street food. It looks very uncomplicated. Cafe vans arrive on the embankment, each van places tables and benches in front of itself and begins to feed those who want it. Naturally, after visiting the fish pavilion, we wanted fish. Seafood was in demand, we had to stand in line, but no one wanted to buy American hamburgers, their tables were completely empty. The most delicious thing Slovenians make is grilled squid. The fish were small sardines and were also very tasty.



Our participation in the food festival Street food festival prices

But fruits, vegetables and berries did not make any impression on us. Firstly, it is very expensive, cheaper than in Helsinki, but more expensive than at home and also more expensive than the same fruit in Slovenian supermarkets. Eco-products are very popular in Europe; these are those grown without the use of artificial fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. Perhaps market traders are trying to sell eco-products?



Berries at the market

We really didn't like Slovenian cucumbers. If the cucumbers at my dacha had become so overgrown, I would have thrown them out, but they are trying to sell them for 2 €, while what we usually eat in Slovenia is called young cucumbers and costs 4 times more. Notice the top left corner of the photo. Located right next to the vegetable rows clothing market, they sell things made in China, almost the entire assortment can be seen, for example, at the Kondratievsky market in St. Petersburg or in any smaller village of Len. areas.



Vegetables at the market

But we really liked the milk vending machine. Instead of the lady at the barrel there is such a sophisticated box with numerical control, I wonder how economically justified such a machine is?



Milk filling and selling machine

After the market we decided to climb the castle hill. The funicular is located very close to the market.

Ljubljana Castle

Ljubljana Castle, the crown that dominates the city center, has graced the Slovenian capital for more than five centuries. This mighty fortress is not only a symbol of the city, the most visited attraction of Ljubljana and green oasis in the city center, a place for various cultural events.



Ljubljana Castle on the mountain

You can climb to the city itself by funicular for €2.20, one-way ticket. You can also climb on foot for free. There are family tickets for 6€. The most valuable thing about this castle is the view of the city. The castle itself was rebuilt many times and this moment is a symbiosis of ancient walls and modern structures made of glass and concrete, it all looks very decent.



View of Ljubljana from the walls of Ljubljana Castle

We all visited museums, but I can’t say that it was worth doing. I’ll still tell you about museums so that you can evaluate for yourself whether you need it or not. All exhibitions and permanent exhibitions are located in different rooms hail, we would have to constantly go up and down the stairs, in the end we even started spinning in the small Ljubljana Castle.



Well in Ljubljana Castle

There are several small museums and temporary exhibitions located on the castle grounds. Permanent exhibitions include the Puppet Museum, the interactive exhibition History of Slovenia, and the exhibition the history of Ljubljana Castle. Temporary exhibitions include an exhibition of photographs from National Geographic, an exhibition about bees, and a hall of contemporary art.



Ljubljana Castle - view from the tower

Exhibition "Save the Bees"

What I found most interesting was the exhibition about bees, the ones that produce honey. There we got acquainted with Slovenian folk crafts, expressed in paintings on beehives. Before visiting Slovenia, I never suspected that mobile beehives could be used to make something worthwhile and interesting. Beehives were transported on such carts, and it was customary to draw pictures on them.



At the bee museum

The posters contained photographs of people carrying such painted boxes on their backs. I didn’t find anything about these pictures in Russian; in English this painting is called Painted front boards. This folk art originated in the mid-18th century during the heyday of the Baroque in Slovenia. Now there are more than 600 motifs. Initially they depicted scenes from the Bible, then scenes from fairy tales and legends were added, then everyday scenes.



Painted front boards - Slovenian folk art

Such pictures are painted on wooden boards using oil paints made from natural dyes. On each such picture, the year is usually written, as I understand the invention of this plot. Years are written everywhere with the first letter “i” instead of “1”. Do you think this motif was invented in 1996? In the souvenir shops of Ljubljana you can buy one of these paintings for only 13.80 €.



One of the pictures

Chapel of St. George

The castle chapel of St. George (or Yuri) is one of oldest parts castle By order of the emperor, from 1489 the chapel was dedicated to St. George, St. Pancras of Rome and the Empress Helena. The chapel acquired its present appearance in 1747 and is currently enjoying fresh renovations.

Chapel of St. George (St. George)

Puppet Museum in Ljubljana Castle

The children liked the museum of puppets, those that are intended for theatrical performances. Each such doll can be pulled by the strings, while the dragon flaps its wings, moves its paws and clicks its jaw. Puppet theater performances are an important part of Slovenian cultural heritage, as stated on the official website of Ljubljana Castle.



In the Puppet Museum, Ljubljana Castle

Below is a plot almost from Pushkin’s fairy tale “About the Fisherman and the Fish”. It was interesting that the performance was based on a fairy tale by Pushkin or whether there is a similar fairy tale plot in Slovenia.

The historical exhibition largely consists of interactive screens on which you can read information about different historical periods in the development of the lands that now make up Slovenia - from the Roman Empire to the war that accompanied the collapse of Yugoslavia. Interactive stands switch to Russian.

There are not enough real exhibits. And those that exist are copies. For example, on one of the walls hangs a copy of the fresco from the Church of the Holy Trinity in Khrastovl “Dance of Death”, a very interesting subject. Or in one of the halls there is a copy of the statue “Citizen of Emona”, found on the territory of Ljubljana in 1836. The statue is 145 cm high, made of gilded bronze, and dates back to the second century AD. The original "Citizen Emona" is kept in the National Museum of Slovenia.

Citizen Emona Statue

We spent two hours exploring all the museums of Ljubljana Castle; when we went down into the city, the market had already finished its work and the city had become completely deserted, perhaps because it had started to rain.



Area after end of trading

We took a slightly different route back to the parking lot. In front of the town hall we saw the fountain of three rivers of Carniolia - Sava, Krka and Ljubljanica. The fountain was designed by Italian architect Francesco Roba in the Baroque style. The Fountain of the Three Rivers is clearly made in imitation of the famous Roman Fountain of the Four Rivers, installed in Piazza Navona in the 17th century. The Slovenian fountain is smaller than the Roman one.

Geographical encyclopedia

Ljubljana- LJUBLJANA, capital of Slovenia. 276 thousand inhabitants. international Airport. Mechanical engineering; chemical, pharmaceutical, light, woodworking, paper, printing industries. Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, University... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Ljubljana), capital of Slovenia (SFRY). Located in a picturesque intermountain basin. Originally an Illyrian settlement, then a Roman colony. Remains remain ancient city Julia Emona, Slavic settlement of the 10th century. Entitled… … Art encyclopedia

- (Ljubljana), Slovenia, 2001, 73 min. Drama. It’s time for Mara to grow up, he’s already twenty-five, but there’s no stability in his life. Friends find work, start families, and increasingly move away from Mare. Trying to prolong his youth, he spends his time chasing... ... Encyclopedia of Cinema

Exist., number of synonyms: 2 city (2765) capital (274) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary

- (Ljubljana), capital of Slovenia. 276 thousand inhabitants (1995). International Airport. Mechanical engineering, chemical, pharmaceutical, textile, food, leather footwear, woodworking, paper, printing industries. Slovenian... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

LJUBLJANA- SLOVENIA Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, is located on the high banks of the Ljubljanika River, a tributary of the Sava. The city's population is about 323,000 inhabitants. From the 1st century BC, the Roman city of Emona was located on this site. How the Slavic settlement Ljubljana became... ... Cities and countries

- (Ljubljana) a city in Yugoslavia, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia. It is located in the intermountain Ljubljana Basin on both banks of the Ljubljanica River, near its confluence with the Sava River. 174 thousand inhabitants (1971). One of the biggest… … Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Ljubljana- capital of Slovenia. The city was founded in the 1st century. n. e. like rome Emona colony (etymology is unclear), also known as Julia Emona (Emperor Augustus belonged to the Julius family). Restored by the Franks in the 9th century, from the 10th century. slav, city. Name Ljubljana after... ... Toponymic dictionary

- (Ljubljana) ch. city ​​of Slovenia (SFRY). 180 thousand inhabitants (1972). One of the largest cult. centers of Yugoslavia. Music L.'s life (founded in the 2nd half of the 6th century) in the Middle Ages was connected with the church of St. Nicholas (late 14th century), during which there was a singer... ... Music Encyclopedia

Books

  • Fracture. 1914-1918. Peace and Slovenes in the First World War, Dusan Nečak, Božo Repe. The book by Slovenian historians D. Nečak and B. Repe is dedicated to a turning point in the history of the Slovenian people, which is associated with the First World War, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and...
  • A. D. Bilimovich. Proceedings, A. D. Bilimovich. The book includes works of the outstanding Russian scientist-economist A.D. Bilimovich, never republished in Russia. In 1920, he was forced to leave Russia forever, but in exile...

And its largest city is Ljubljana. This city is located on the Ljubljanica River, almost 10 km from its confluence with the Sava. The area of ​​Ljubljana is 275 km². In 2007 its population numbered 267,920 inhabitants. The city's coat of arms depicts the symbol of this place - the green Ljubljana Serpent.

The official language in the city is Slovenian, but most residents speak German and English. The main faith of the residents is Catholicism. There are many versions of where and how the name of the city came from. Some researchers suggest that it is based on the Slovenian word lyublena, others think that it is the Latin word aluviana, and still others prefer the German word Laibach.

It is known from history that the outskirts of the city were part of the ancient Roman possessions even before our era. In 34 BC. e. the Roman colony of Emona, which was located near modern Ljubljana, was given city rights. In the 5th century AD e. This territory was captured by barbarians. Since the 6th century, the Slavic Luvigana was located in this place, which was captured by the Hungarians in the 10th century.

Ljubljana was first mentioned in writing in 1144. In 1260 it was first listed as a city on the Ljubljanica River. It was at this time that Ljubljana became the administrative center of the Carniola region. Since 1276 it belonged to the Tyrolean counts.

From 1335 to 1918, Ljubljana was the main city of the Carniola region, which was ruled by the Habsburgs. In 1809-1813/1815 the city was the center of the French Illyrian provinces. In the XIX - early XX centuries. - This main center Slovenian people's liberation movement.

When the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which later became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, was formed in 1918, it included Slovenia, whose capital was Ljubljana. At the beginning of World War II it was occupied by the Italians, and at the end by the Germans. When the war ended, the city became the capital of the Yugoslav Socialist Republic of Slovenia. After 1991, Ljubljana is the capital of independent Slovenia.

The capital of Slovenia is famous for its institutions of higher education. First of all, these are the University of Ljubljana and the Academy of Sciences and Arts.

In this city, like in any other ancient capital, located great amount various attractions. One of the most important and mysterious places is the Castle (Grad), which is located on a high hill above the old town, offering a magnificent view of the entire city. After the castle was founded in the 9th century, it was rebuilt almost all the time, and the reconstruction process is still ongoing. The Gothic Chapel of St. George, created in the 16th century, is in good condition.

The capital of Slovenia is also famous for its city square, which is the center of old Ljubljana. It is located on the right bank of the river, between Ljubljana Castle and the river itself. Stands on the square old Town Hall, built in the Baroque style. It was erected in 1484 and rebuilt in the 18th century. The city council still meets in this building. Opposite the Town Hall is the ancient Three Rivers Fountain, which was created in 1752.

In 1707, the magnificent Cathedral of St. Nicholas. It is a Baroque cathedral, which was built according to the design of the Italian architect Andrea del Pozzo. Italian craftsmen worked on the interior of the cathedral, and the bishop's chair was created by the famous Slovenian master and architect J. Plečnik. To the ensemble cathedral and connected to it by a covered gallery is the Bishop's Palace, built in the 16th-18th centuries.

According to the design of J. Plečnik, another one was built - Three Bridges. These are three bridges fanning out over Ljubljanica. Another interesting bridge for tourists is the Snake Bridge, which runs through Ljubljanica. It is decorated with four symbolic figures of snakes.

The capital of Slovenia is especially proud of its ancient and beautiful temples and churches, of which there are quite a few in the city. So, next to Three Bridges, on the left bank of the river, on Prešeren Square, there is a Franciscan Church, founded in 1660. Also in Ljubljana there are the churches of St. Jacob, St. Floriana, Ursulines, etc.

The capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, is its largest and oldest city, if you count the Roman settlement. Today, more than 275 thousand people live on the banks of the Ljubljanica River - almost 13% of the population of Slovenia.

History of Ljubljana

The history of Ljubljana dates back to the 10th century BC, when primitive communities came to the territory of modern Ljubljana. Later, the settlements were occupied by the Veneti and Illarians, and in the 8th century BC the area was occupied by the Celts.

Ljubljana's advantageous location at the crossroads of trade routes has made it an attractive place to settle since ancient times. Back in the 1st century BC. this part of Slovenia became part of Italy and already at the beginning of our era the city of Emona, inhabited by the Romans, was formed there. With the collapse of the Roman Empire, most of the city's inhabitants moved to the mountains to escape the raids of nomadic tribes, while the territory of modern Ljubljana was occupied by the Avar Khaganate.

In the 7th century, these lands became part of the first state of the Slovenes - Carantania, which lasted until the 8th century. After this, the territory became part of the Frankish state, the East Frankish kingdom and even the Holy Roman Empire. From the 14th century until the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918, Ljubljana was called Laibach and was part of the Habsburg state. Since then, the green dragon, an ancient symbol of prosperity and strength, has remained on the coat of arms of Ljubljana. In 1821, the famous Laibach Congress took place in Ljubljana, in which Russian Emperor Alexander I participated.

In 1918, part of the Balkan lands that were part of the collapsed Austria-Hungary united and formed the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which later became known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Ljubljana became its Slovenian center, and a university and art academy were founded in the city. During the same period, significant changes occurred and architectural appearance cities. After the end of the German occupation, Ljubljana became the capital People's Republic Slovenia (part of Yugoslavia). In 1991, when Slovenia gained sovereignty, Ljubljana became the capital of the new Slovenian state.

Ljubljana today

When you hear Ljubljana Slovenia, you know that we are talking about the largest Slovenian city with unusual architecture and rich cultural heritage. In Ljubljana you can find buildings in the Renaissance, Baroque and Classicist styles, as well as gothic churches and cathedrals. After World War II, the city center was significantly rebuilt under the leadership of the famous Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik, author of the Three Bridges, the most famous Slovenian architectural composition of three bridges over the Ljubljanica River.

From the medieval architectural monuments Ljubljana Castle is a well-preserved fortress on a hilltop on the banks of the Ljubljanica River. Ljubljana has a large number of galleries and museums, including National Museum Slovenia hosts various festivals - contemporary art, alternative culture, street theatre, music and film festivals.

In winter, Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, hosts the annual Christmas festival “December in Ljubljana”. In the center of Ljubljana there is the famous landscape park Tivoli. Very close to the city are the Ljubljana Zoo, as well as the beautiful Arboretum botanical garden, founded more than 200 years ago - in 1810.

Today's Ljubljana is one of the greenest cities in Europe and is even included in the ranking of the thirty most environmentally friendly European cities due to its warm climate and abundance of green spaces, which will make tourist walks along its streets and squares pleasant at any time of the year.

 

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