A Georgia Girl in Germany

Back in October, I took a (long) day trip to Ljubljana (pronounced LU-bee-AH-na), Slovenia. Usually USO tours with begin with the official city tour, followed by free time to explore the city on our own, but this time we ventured out on our own first...which meant that I saw some things twice, and didn’t realize the significance of some of them until the second time around.

For example, the American embassy in Ljubljana sits next door to the Russian embassy, which is one of the few places in the world where the embassies of the two largest, and not always agreeable, superpowers, are side-by-side.

The entrance to the Parliament building (People’s Assembly, National Assembly) was rather interesting, surrounded by sculptures of different trades and occupations. It was built in 1960, when Slovenia was still part of Yugoslavia.

We then made our way to the old center of town, seen here from a pedestrian zone, with the Ljubljana Cathedral in the background.

The Second World War made its way to Ljubljana in April 1941, when the city was occupied by fascist Italy and included in the so-called Province of Ljubljana. The city became one of the main centers of underground anti-fascist resistance already in June 1941 and, as a result, the Italian occupation authorities completely encircled it with 30 km of barbed wire fence on February 23, 1942. Our tour guide claimed this was “temporary version of the Berlin Wall,” but fortunately didn’t result in the destruction of the city. Nazi Germany replaced the Italians as the occupying force after the capitulation of Italy in September 1943. After World War II, it became the capital of the Yugoslav Socialist Republic of Slovenia, and remained neutral since 1948. Ljubljana remained the capital city of Slovenia with the country’s independence in 1991 -- in which more than 90% of the population voted for independence. After the break up of Yugoslavia and the relatively peaceful 10-day war against the Yugoslav National Army, about 200,000 refugees came to Slovenia -- this represented 10% of the country’s population, and put an enormous strain on the country.

This is the Franciscan church of the Mary’s Annunciation in Prešeren Square with the monument to the Slovene poet, France Prešeren and his muse, in front of it. The square was under renovation when we were there, but it was still magnificent and classic-looking.

This is the view from Prešeren Square looking across the Tromostovje -- Triple Bridge. The Tromostovje is actually three bridges across the Ljubljanica River, all immediately beside each other. The middle stone arch bridge is the central part of the modern bridge, and was extended into the Triple Bridge between 1929 and 1932 with the addition of pedestrian bridges either side, effectively widening the bridge and preventing it from being a bottleneck.

From the Triple Bridge, it’s easy to see the Dragon Bridge further down the Ljubljanica River. By mid-afternoon, there was a market under and beside the covered archway beside the river.

Here’s one of the four dragons of the Dragon Bridge. There is a legend that Jason was the founder of Ljubljana, and he and his Argonauts killed a dragon. Although I didn’t witness such an event, according to local legends, when a virgin crosses the bridge the dragons will wag their tails. Some local people have nicknamed this structure “mother-in-law” because of its fiery nature.

Even the manhole covers depict the city’s mascot -- the dragon.

The market venders set up under the covered archway had beautiful wares. I really liked these colored glass offerings -- and purchased a multi-colored vase and several candle holders. The multitude of colors means they will go with anything while adding just the right splash of color!

I had a wonderful view across the Ljubljanica River during lunch at an outdoor restaurant. It was nice and relaxing to watch people strolling by on a quiet Saturday afternoon.

The fish market area with the golden fountain was just around the corner from where I had lunch. The building on the left is the oldest original building in the city, built in 1528 -- it was not damaged in the several earthquakes that hit the city.

After lunch, we took a ride in a street train up to the Ljubljana Castle. According to archeological surveys, the area of the present castle has been settled continuously since 1200 BC, when the first settlements and later fortifications were built.

The castle was first mentioned in 1144 as a seat of the Carinthian dukes Spanheim. In the 15th century, it was enlarged with a complete wall and towers and a drawbridge at the entrance. A chapel was also built at that time. Because it wasn’t a home of a ruler or another important noble person, and because a fortification in the area was no longer required, the castle started to lose its importance. The maintenance costs were too high so the castle began to crumble. In the 19th century, the castle was redesigned partially as a prison and partially as a military stronghold, making it less popular among the citizens. At the end of the 1960s, the long and extensive renovation works started, and lasted more than 35 years. Once renovations were complete in the 1990s, the castle was used for weddings and other cultural events.

We had a wonderful view of city from within the castle walls. The Kamnik Alps are in the distance but are obscured by clouds in the background (not to be confused with the much-smaller foothills which are visible).

After completing our tour of the castle, we traveled via funicular down to the Osrednja Tržnica -- Central Market -- beside the Ljubljana Cathedral.

Our next stop was the St. Nicholas Cathedral. The side entrance door was made in 1996 on occasion of Pope John Paul II’s first visit to the city and shows the six bishops of the city.

The main door of the St. Nicholas Cathedral shows a detailed history of the city, including broken Roman pottery (bottom right), the Crusades (left), Ottoman raids (right), the farmers’ rebellion of higher taxes and the first written manuscripts in Slovenia. It’s a beautiful work of art and an outline of history, all in one.

The inside of St. Nicholas Cathedral was simply stunning. The cathedral was built 300 years ago in Italian-baroque style with lots of gold and marble.

Ljubljana’s Town Hall was built in 1484 in Renaissance style, but had Baroque features added in 1718. In 1928 the clock tower with the golden dragon was added on the clock spire.

While we were standing outside the Town Hall, the Ljubljana mayor came outside after participating in a wedding. When he saw our group of mostly Americans, he welcomed us and told us we were visiting “the most beautiful city in the world.” Based on the photos of the wedding party, it appeared to be the wedding of someone significant in the city.

The obelisk and fountain behind him mark the center of the city and date to 1751.

Here’s one last view over the Ljubljanica River -- the so-called “Beach of Ljubljana” near where I ate lunch and where residents will also search out a place to sit along the river and eat lunch.

Labels: Slovenia, Travel