Ljubljana (the wikipedia entry, for our capital city) Part Two.
Ljubljana Cathedral
Town Hall (Mestna hiša, Magistrat), located at Town Square, is the seat of city government. The original, Gothic building was completed in 1484. Between 1717 and 1719, the building underwent a Baroque renovation with a Venetian inspiration by architect Gregor Maček Sr. Near Town Hall, at Town Square, stands a replica of the Baroque Robba Fountain. The original was moved into the National Gallery in 2006. The fountain is decorated with an obelisk; at the foot are three figures in white marble symbolising the three chief rivers of Carniola. It is work of Francesco Robba, who designed other Baroque statues there.
Ljubljana Cathedral (ljubljanska stolnica), or St. Nicholas's Cathedral (stolnica sv. Nikolaja), serves the Archdiocese of Ljubljana. Easily identifiable due to its green dome and twin towers, it is located at Cyril and Methodius Square (Ciril-Metodov trg, named for Saints Cyril and Methodius). The Diocese was set up in 1461. Between 1701 and 1706, Jesuit architect Andrea Pozzo designed the Baroque church with two side chapels shaped in the form of a Latin cross. The dome was built in the centre in 1841. The interior is decorated with Baroque frescos painted by Giulio Quaglio between 1703–1706 and 1721–1723.
Nebotičnik (pronounced [nɛbɔtiːtʃniːk], "Skyscraper") is a thirteen-story building that rises to a height of 70.35 m (231 ft). It combines elements of Neoclassical and Art-Deco architecture. Predominantly a place of business, Nebotičnik is home to shops on the ground floor and first story, and offices are located on floors two to five. The sixth to ninth floors are private residences. The top three floors host a café, bar and observation deck. It was designed by Slovenian architect Vladimir Šubic. The building opened on 21 February 1933. It was once the tallest residential building in Europe.
Public green spaces
Tivoli City Park (Mestni park Tivoli) is the largest park. It was designed in 1813 by French engineer Jean Blanchard and now covers approximately 5 km2 (1.9 sq mi).The park was laid out during the French imperial administration of Ljubljana in 1813 and named after the Parisian Jardins de Tivoli. Between 1921 and 1939, it was renovated by Slovene architect Jože Plečnik, who unveiled his statue of Napoleon in 1929 in Republic Square and designed a broad central promenade, called the Jakopič Promenade (Jakopičevo sprehajališče) after the leading Slovene impressionist painter Rihard Jakopič. Within the park, there are trees, flower gardens, several statues, and fountains. Several notable buildings stand in the park, among them Tivoli Castle, the National Museum of Contemporary History and the Tivoli Sports Hall.
The Ljubljana Botanical Garden (Ljubljanski botanični vrt) covers 2.40 ha (5.9 acres) next to the junction of the Gruber Canal and the Ljubljanica, south of the Old Town. It is the central Slovenian botanical garden and the oldest cultural, scientific, and educational organisation in the country. It started operating under the leadership of Franc Hladnik in 1810. Of over 4,500 plant species and subspecies, roughly a third is endemic to Slovenia, whereas the rest originate from other European places and other continents. The institution is a member of the international network Botanic Gardens Conservation International and cooperates with more than 270 botanical gardens all across the world.
In 2014, Ljubljana won the European Green Capital Award for 2016 for their environmental achievements.
Bridges, streets and squares
Ljubljana's best-known bridges, listed from northern to southern ones, include the Dragon Bridge (Zmajski most), the Butchers' Bridge (Mesarski most), the Triple Bridge (Tromostovje), the Fish Footbridge (Slovene: Ribja brv), the Cobblers' Bridge (Slovene: Šuštarski most), the Hradecky Bridge (Slovene: Hradeckega most), and the Trnovo Bridge (Trnovski most). The last mentioned crosses the Gradaščica, whereas all other bridges cross the Ljubljanica River.
The Dragon Bridge
The 1901 Dragon Bridge, decorated with dragon statues on pedestals at four corners of the bridge has become a symbol of the city and is regarded as one of the most beautiful examples of a bridge made in Vienna Secession style. It has a span of 33.34 m (109 ft 5 in) and its arch was at the time the third largest in Europe. It is protected as a technical monument.
The Butchers' Bridge
Decorated with mythological bronze sculptures, created by Jakov Brdar, from Ancient Greek mythology and Biblical stories, the Butchers' Bridge connects the Ljubljana Open Market area and the restaurants-filled Petkovšek Embankment (Petkovškovo nabrežje). It is also known as the love padlocks-decorated bridge in Ljubljana.
The Triple Bridge
The Triple Bridge is decorated with stone balusters and stone lamps on all of the three bridges and leads to the terraces looking on the river and poplar trees. It occupies a central point on the east–west axis, connecting the Tivoli City Park with Rožnik Hill, on one side, and the Ljubljana Castle on the other, and the north–south axis through the city, represented by the river. It was enlarged in order to prevent the historically single bridge from being a bottleneck by adding two side pedestrian bridges to the middle one.
The Fish Footbridge
The Fish Footbridge offers a view of the neighbouring Triple Bridge to the north and the Cobbler's Bridge to the South. It is a transparent glass-made bridge, illuminated at night by in-built LEDs. From 1991 to 2014 the bridge was a wooden one and decorated with flowers, while since its reconstruction in 2014, it is made of glass. It was planned already in 1895 by Max Fabiani to build a bridge on the location, in 1913 Alfred Keller planned a staircase, later Jože Plečnik incorporated both into his own plans which, however, were not realised.
The Cobbler's Bridge
The 1930 'Cobblers' Bridge' (Šuštarski, from German Schuster – Shoemaker) is another Plečnik's creation, connecting two major areas of medieval Ljubljana. It is decorated by two kinds of pillars, the Corinthian pillars which delineate the shape of the bridge itself and the Ionic pillars as lamp-bearers.
Trnovo Bridge
The Trnovo Bridge is the most prominent object of Plečnik's renovation of the banks of the Gradaščica. It is located in the front of the Trnovo Church to the south of the city centre. It connects the neighbourhoods of Krakovo and Trnovo, the oldest Ljubljana suburbs, known for their market gardens and cultural events. It was built between 1929 and 1932. It is distinguished by its width and two rows of birches that it bears, because it was meant to serve as a public space in front of the church. Each corner of the bridge is capped with a small pyramid, a signature motif of Plečnik's, whereas the mid-span features a pair of Art-Deco male sculptures. There is also a statue of Saint John the Baptist on the bridge, the patron of the Trnovo Church. It was designed by Nikolaj Pirnat.
Hradecky Bridge [hinged bridge]
The Hradecky Bridge is one of the first hinged bridges in the world, the first and the only preserved cast iron bridge in Slovenia, and one of its most highly valued technical achievements. It has been situated on an extension of Hren Street (Hrenova ulica), between the Krakovo Embankment (Krakovski nasip) and the Gruden Embankment (Grudnovo nabrežje), connecting the Trnovo District and the Prule neighbourhood in the Center District. The Hradecky Bridge was manufactured according to the plans of the senior engineer Johann Hermann from Vienna in the Auersperg iron foundry in Dvor near Žužemberk, and installed in Ljubljana in 1867, at the location of today's Cobblers' Bridge.
Streets and squares
Having already existed in the 18th century, Ljubljana's central square, Prešeren Square's modern appearance has developed since the end of the 19th century. After the 1895 earthquake, Max Fabiani designed the square as the hub of four streets and four banks, and in the 1980s Edvard Ravnikar proposed the circular design and the granite block pavement. A statue of the Slovene national poet France Prešeren with a muse stands in the middle of the square. The Prešeren Monument was created by Ivan Zajec in 1905, whereas the pedestal was designed by Max Fabiani. The square and surroundings have been closed to traffic since 1 September 2007. Only a tourist train leaves Prešeren Square every day, transporting tourists to Ljubljana Castle.
Republic Square, originally named Revolution Square, is the largest square in Ljubljana. It was designed in the second half of the 20th century by Edvard Ravnikar. On 26 June 1991, the independence of Slovenia was declared here. The National Assembly Building stands at its northern side, and Cankar Hall, the largest Slovenian cultural and congress centre, at the southern side. At its eastern side stands the two-storey building of Maximarket, also the work of Ravnikar. It houses one of the oldest department stores in Ljubljana and a cafe, which is a popular meeting place and a place for political talks and negotiations.
Congress Square (Kongresni trg) is one of the important centres of the city. It was built in 1821 for ceremonial purposes such as Congress of Ljubljana after which it was named. Since then it has been a centre for political ceremonies, demonstrations, and protests, such as the ceremony for the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, ceremony of the liberation of Belgrade, and protests against Yugoslav authority in 1988. The square also houses several important buildings, such as the University of Ljubljana Palace, Philharmonic Hall, Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity, and the Slovene Society Building. Star Park (Park Zvezda) is located in the centre of the square. In 2010 and 2011, the square was renovated and is now mostly closed to road traffic on ground area, however, there are five floors for commercial purposes and a parking lot located underground.
Čop Street (Čopova ulica) is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Ljubljana. The street is named after Matija Čop, an early 19th-century literary figure and close friend of the Slovene Romantic poet France Prešeren. It leads from the Main Post Office (Glavna pošta) at Slovene Street (Slovenska cesta) downward to Prešeren Square and is lined with bars and stores, including the oldest McDonald's restaurant in Slovenia. It is a pedestrian zone and regarded as the capital's central promenade.
Culture
Accent
The Ljubljana accent and/or dialect (Slovene: ljubljanščina [luːblɑːŋʃnɑː] (listen)) is considered a border dialect, since Ljubljana is situated where the Upper dialect and Lower Carniolan dialect group meet. Historically, the Ljubljana dialect in the past displayed features more similar with the Lower Carniolan dialect group, but it gradually grew closer to the Upper dialect group, as a direct consequence of mass migration from Upper Carniola into Ljubljana in the 19th and 20th century. Ljubljana as a city grew mostly to the north, and gradually incorporated many villages that were historically part of Upper Carniola and so its dialect shifted away and closer to the Upper dialects. The Ljubljana dialect has also been used as a literary means in novels, such as in the novel Nekdo drug by Branko Gradišnik, or in poems, such as Pika Nogavička (Slovene for Pippi Longstocking) by Andrej Rozman - Roza.
The central position of Ljubljana and its dialect had crucial impact on the development of the Slovenian language. It was the speech of 16th century Ljubljana that Primož Trubar a Slovenian Protestant Reformer took as a foundation of what later became standard Slovenian language, with a small addition of his native speech, the Lower Carniolan dialect. While in Ljubljana, he lived in a house, on today's Ribji trg, in the oldest part of the city. Living in Ljubljana had a profound impact on his work; he considered Ljubljana the capital of all Slovenes, not only because of its central position in the heart of the Slovene lands, but also because it always had an essentially Slovene character. Most of its inhabitants spoke Slovene as their mother tongue, unlike other cites in today's Slovenia. It is estimated that in Trubar's time around 70% of Ljubljana's 4000 inhabitants attended mass in Slovene. Trubar considered Ljubljana's speech most suitable, since it sounded much more noble, than his own simple dialect of his hometown Rašica. Trubar's choice was later adopted also by other Protestant writers in the 16th century, and ultimately led to a formation of a more standard language.
In literary fiction
Ljubljana appears in the 2005 The Historian, written by Elisabeth Kostova, and is called by its Roman name (Emona).
Ljubljana is also the setting of Paulo Coelho's 1998 novel Veronika Decides to Die.
During 2010, Ljubljana was designated as the World Book Capital by UNESCO.
Festivals
Each year, over 10,000 cultural events take place in the city, including ten international theatre, music, and art festivals.[62] The Ljubljana Festival is one of the two oldest festivals in former Yugoslavia (the Dubrovnik Summer Festival was established in 1950, and the Ljubljana Festival one in 1953). Guests have included Dubravka Tomšič, Marjana Lipovšek, Tomaž Pandur, Katia Ricciarelli, Grace Bumbry, Yehudi Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich, José Carreras, Slid Hampton, Zubin Mehta, Vadim Repin, Valerij Gergijev, Sir Andrew Davis, Danjulo Išizaka, Midori, Jurij Bašmet, Ennio Morricone, and Manhattan Transfer. Orchestras have included the New York Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestras of the Bolshoi Theatre from Moscow, La Scala from Milan, and Mariinsky Theatre from Saint Petersburg. In recent years there have been 80 kinds of events and some 80,000 visitors from Slovenia and abroad.[citation needed] Other cultural venues include Križanke, Cankar Hall and the Exhibition and Convention Centre. During Book Week, starting each year on World Book Day, events and book sales take place at Congress Square. A flea market is held every Sunday in the old city. On the evening of International Workers' Day, a celebration with a bonfire takes place on Rožnik Hill.
Museums and art galleries
Ljubljana has numerous art galleries and museums. The first purpose-built art gallery in Ljubljana was the Jakopič Pavilion, which was in the first half of the 20th century the central exhibition venue of Slovene artists. In the early 1960s, it was succeeded by Ljubljana City Art Gallery, which has presented a number of modern Slovene and foreign artists. In 2010, there were 14 museums and 56 art galleries in Ljubljana. There is for example an architecture museum, a railway museum, a school museum, a sports museum, a museum of modern art, a museum of contemporary art, a brewery museum, the Slovenian Museum of Natural History and the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. The National Gallery (Narodna galerija), founded in 1918, and the Museum of Modern Art (Moderna galerija) exhibit the most influential Slovenian artists. In 2006, the museums received 264,470 visitors, the galleries 403,890 and the theatres 396,440. The Metelkova Museum of Contemporary Art (Muzej sodobne umetnosti Metelkova), opened in 2011, hosts simultaneous exhibitions, a research library, archives, and a bookshop.
Entertainment and performing arts
The Slovenian National Theatre
Cankar Hall is the largest Slovenian cultural and congress center with multiple halls and a large foyer in which art film festivals, artistic performances, book fairs, and other cultural events are held.
Cinema
The cinema in Ljubljana appeared for the first time at the turn of the 20th century, and quickly gained popularity among the residents. After World War II, the Cinema Company Ljubljana, later named Ljubljana Cinematographers, was established and managed a number of already functioning movie theatres in Ljubljana, including the only Yugoslav children's theatre. Cinema festivals took place in the 1960s, and a cinematheque opened its doors in 1963. With the advent of television, video, and recently the Internet, most cinema theatres in Ljubljana closed, and the cinema mainly moved to Kolosej, a multiplex in the BTC City. It features twelve screens, including an IMAX 3D screen. The remaining theatres are Kino Komuna, Kinodvor, where art movies are accompanied by events, and the Slovenian Cinematheque. The Slovenian Cinematheque hosts the international Ljubljana LGBT Film Festival which showcases LGBT-themed films. Founded in 1984, it is the oldest film festival of its sort in Europe.
Classical music, opera and ballet
The Slovenian Philharmonics is the central music institution in Ljubljana and Slovenia. It holds classical music concerts of domestic and foreign performers as well as educates youth. It was established in 1701 as part of Academia operosorum Labacensis and is among the oldest such institutions in Europe. The Slovene National Opera and Ballet Theatre also resides in Ljubljana, presenting a wide variety of domestic and foreign, modern and classic, opera, ballet and concert works. It serves as the national opera and ballet house. Music festivals are held in Ljubljana, chiefly in European classical music and jazz, for instance the Ljubljana Summer Festival (Ljubljanski poletni festival), and Trnfest.
Theatre
In addition to the main houses, with the SNT Drama Ljubljana as the most important among them, a number of small producers are active in Ljubljana, involved primarily in physical theatre (e.g. Betontanc), street theatre (e.g. Ana Monró Theatre), theatresports championship Impro League, and improvisational theatre (e.g. IGLU Theatre). A popular form is puppetry, mainly performed in the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre. Theatre has a rich tradition in Ljubljana, starting with the 1867 first ever Slovene-language drama performance.
Modern dance
The modern dance was presented in Ljubljana for the first time at the end of the 19th century and developed rapidly since the end of the 1920s. Since the 1930s when in Ljubljana was founded a Mary Wigman dance school, the first one for modern dance in Slovenia, the field has been intimately linked to the development in Europe and the United States. Ljubljana Dance Theatre is today the only venue in Ljubljana dedicated to contemporary dance. Despite this, there's a vivid happening in the field.
Folk dance
Several folk dance groups are active in Ljubljana.
Jazz
In July 2015, over four days, the 56th Ljubljana Jazz Festival took place. A member of the European Jazz Network, the festival presented 19 concerts featuring artists from 19 countries, including a celebration of the 75th birthday of James "Blood" Ulmer.
Popular urban culture and alternative scene
In the 1980s with the emergence of subcultures in Ljubljana, an alternative culture began to develop in Ljubljana organised around two student organisations. This caused an influx of young people to the city centre, caused political and social changes, and led to the establishment of alternative art centres.
Metelkova and Rog
A Ljubljana equivalent of Copenhagen's Freetown Christiania, a self-proclaimed autonomous Metelkova neighbourhood, was set up in a former Austro-Hungarian barracks that were built in 1882.
In 1993, the seven buildings and 12,500 square metres (135,000 sq ft) of space were turned into art galleries, artist studios, and seven nightclubs, including two LGBTQ+ venues, playing host to music from hardcore to jazz to dub to techno. Celica Hostel is adjacent to Metelkova with rooms artistically decorated by Metelkova artists. A new part of the Museum of Modern Art is the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art. Another alternative culture centre is located in the former Rog factory. Both Metelkova and the Rog factory complex are near the city centre.
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Town Hall (Mestna hiša, Magistrat), located at Town Square, is the seat of city government. The original, Gothic building was completed in 1484. Between 1717 and 1719, the building underwent a Baroque renovation with a Venetian inspiration by architect Gregor Maček Sr. Near Town Hall, at Town Square, stands a replica of the Baroque Robba Fountain. The original was moved into the National Gallery in 2006. The fountain is decorated with an obelisk; at the foot are three figures in white marble symbolising the three chief rivers of Carniola. It is work of Francesco Robba, who designed other Baroque statues there.
Ljubljana Cathedral (ljubljanska stolnica), or St. Nicholas's Cathedral (stolnica sv. Nikolaja), serves the Archdiocese of Ljubljana. Easily identifiable due to its green dome and twin towers, it is located at Cyril and Methodius Square (Ciril-Metodov trg, named for Saints Cyril and Methodius). The Diocese was set up in 1461. Between 1701 and 1706, Jesuit architect Andrea Pozzo designed the Baroque church with two side chapels shaped in the form of a Latin cross. The dome was built in the centre in 1841. The interior is decorated with Baroque frescos painted by Giulio Quaglio between 1703–1706 and 1721–1723.
Nebotičnik (pronounced [nɛbɔtiːtʃniːk], "Skyscraper") is a thirteen-story building that rises to a height of 70.35 m (231 ft). It combines elements of Neoclassical and Art-Deco architecture. Predominantly a place of business, Nebotičnik is home to shops on the ground floor and first story, and offices are located on floors two to five. The sixth to ninth floors are private residences. The top three floors host a café, bar and observation deck. It was designed by Slovenian architect Vladimir Šubic. The building opened on 21 February 1933. It was once the tallest residential building in Europe.
Public green spaces
Tivoli City Park (Mestni park Tivoli) is the largest park. It was designed in 1813 by French engineer Jean Blanchard and now covers approximately 5 km2 (1.9 sq mi).The park was laid out during the French imperial administration of Ljubljana in 1813 and named after the Parisian Jardins de Tivoli. Between 1921 and 1939, it was renovated by Slovene architect Jože Plečnik, who unveiled his statue of Napoleon in 1929 in Republic Square and designed a broad central promenade, called the Jakopič Promenade (Jakopičevo sprehajališče) after the leading Slovene impressionist painter Rihard Jakopič. Within the park, there are trees, flower gardens, several statues, and fountains. Several notable buildings stand in the park, among them Tivoli Castle, the National Museum of Contemporary History and the Tivoli Sports Hall.
The Ljubljana Botanical Garden (Ljubljanski botanični vrt) covers 2.40 ha (5.9 acres) next to the junction of the Gruber Canal and the Ljubljanica, south of the Old Town. It is the central Slovenian botanical garden and the oldest cultural, scientific, and educational organisation in the country. It started operating under the leadership of Franc Hladnik in 1810. Of over 4,500 plant species and subspecies, roughly a third is endemic to Slovenia, whereas the rest originate from other European places and other continents. The institution is a member of the international network Botanic Gardens Conservation International and cooperates with more than 270 botanical gardens all across the world.
In 2014, Ljubljana won the European Green Capital Award for 2016 for their environmental achievements.
Bridges, streets and squares
Ljubljana's best-known bridges, listed from northern to southern ones, include the Dragon Bridge (Zmajski most), the Butchers' Bridge (Mesarski most), the Triple Bridge (Tromostovje), the Fish Footbridge (Slovene: Ribja brv), the Cobblers' Bridge (Slovene: Šuštarski most), the Hradecky Bridge (Slovene: Hradeckega most), and the Trnovo Bridge (Trnovski most). The last mentioned crosses the Gradaščica, whereas all other bridges cross the Ljubljanica River.
The Dragon Bridge
The 1901 Dragon Bridge, decorated with dragon statues on pedestals at four corners of the bridge has become a symbol of the city and is regarded as one of the most beautiful examples of a bridge made in Vienna Secession style. It has a span of 33.34 m (109 ft 5 in) and its arch was at the time the third largest in Europe. It is protected as a technical monument.
The Butchers' Bridge
Decorated with mythological bronze sculptures, created by Jakov Brdar, from Ancient Greek mythology and Biblical stories, the Butchers' Bridge connects the Ljubljana Open Market area and the restaurants-filled Petkovšek Embankment (Petkovškovo nabrežje). It is also known as the love padlocks-decorated bridge in Ljubljana.
The Triple Bridge
The Triple Bridge is decorated with stone balusters and stone lamps on all of the three bridges and leads to the terraces looking on the river and poplar trees. It occupies a central point on the east–west axis, connecting the Tivoli City Park with Rožnik Hill, on one side, and the Ljubljana Castle on the other, and the north–south axis through the city, represented by the river. It was enlarged in order to prevent the historically single bridge from being a bottleneck by adding two side pedestrian bridges to the middle one.
The Fish Footbridge
The Fish Footbridge offers a view of the neighbouring Triple Bridge to the north and the Cobbler's Bridge to the South. It is a transparent glass-made bridge, illuminated at night by in-built LEDs. From 1991 to 2014 the bridge was a wooden one and decorated with flowers, while since its reconstruction in 2014, it is made of glass. It was planned already in 1895 by Max Fabiani to build a bridge on the location, in 1913 Alfred Keller planned a staircase, later Jože Plečnik incorporated both into his own plans which, however, were not realised.
The Cobbler's Bridge
The 1930 'Cobblers' Bridge' (Šuštarski, from German Schuster – Shoemaker) is another Plečnik's creation, connecting two major areas of medieval Ljubljana. It is decorated by two kinds of pillars, the Corinthian pillars which delineate the shape of the bridge itself and the Ionic pillars as lamp-bearers.
Trnovo Bridge
The Trnovo Bridge is the most prominent object of Plečnik's renovation of the banks of the Gradaščica. It is located in the front of the Trnovo Church to the south of the city centre. It connects the neighbourhoods of Krakovo and Trnovo, the oldest Ljubljana suburbs, known for their market gardens and cultural events. It was built between 1929 and 1932. It is distinguished by its width and two rows of birches that it bears, because it was meant to serve as a public space in front of the church. Each corner of the bridge is capped with a small pyramid, a signature motif of Plečnik's, whereas the mid-span features a pair of Art-Deco male sculptures. There is also a statue of Saint John the Baptist on the bridge, the patron of the Trnovo Church. It was designed by Nikolaj Pirnat.
Hradecky Bridge [hinged bridge]
The Hradecky Bridge is one of the first hinged bridges in the world, the first and the only preserved cast iron bridge in Slovenia, and one of its most highly valued technical achievements. It has been situated on an extension of Hren Street (Hrenova ulica), between the Krakovo Embankment (Krakovski nasip) and the Gruden Embankment (Grudnovo nabrežje), connecting the Trnovo District and the Prule neighbourhood in the Center District. The Hradecky Bridge was manufactured according to the plans of the senior engineer Johann Hermann from Vienna in the Auersperg iron foundry in Dvor near Žužemberk, and installed in Ljubljana in 1867, at the location of today's Cobblers' Bridge.
Streets and squares
Having already existed in the 18th century, Ljubljana's central square, Prešeren Square's modern appearance has developed since the end of the 19th century. After the 1895 earthquake, Max Fabiani designed the square as the hub of four streets and four banks, and in the 1980s Edvard Ravnikar proposed the circular design and the granite block pavement. A statue of the Slovene national poet France Prešeren with a muse stands in the middle of the square. The Prešeren Monument was created by Ivan Zajec in 1905, whereas the pedestal was designed by Max Fabiani. The square and surroundings have been closed to traffic since 1 September 2007. Only a tourist train leaves Prešeren Square every day, transporting tourists to Ljubljana Castle.
Republic Square, originally named Revolution Square, is the largest square in Ljubljana. It was designed in the second half of the 20th century by Edvard Ravnikar. On 26 June 1991, the independence of Slovenia was declared here. The National Assembly Building stands at its northern side, and Cankar Hall, the largest Slovenian cultural and congress centre, at the southern side. At its eastern side stands the two-storey building of Maximarket, also the work of Ravnikar. It houses one of the oldest department stores in Ljubljana and a cafe, which is a popular meeting place and a place for political talks and negotiations.
Congress Square (Kongresni trg) is one of the important centres of the city. It was built in 1821 for ceremonial purposes such as Congress of Ljubljana after which it was named. Since then it has been a centre for political ceremonies, demonstrations, and protests, such as the ceremony for the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, ceremony of the liberation of Belgrade, and protests against Yugoslav authority in 1988. The square also houses several important buildings, such as the University of Ljubljana Palace, Philharmonic Hall, Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity, and the Slovene Society Building. Star Park (Park Zvezda) is located in the centre of the square. In 2010 and 2011, the square was renovated and is now mostly closed to road traffic on ground area, however, there are five floors for commercial purposes and a parking lot located underground.
Čop Street (Čopova ulica) is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Ljubljana. The street is named after Matija Čop, an early 19th-century literary figure and close friend of the Slovene Romantic poet France Prešeren. It leads from the Main Post Office (Glavna pošta) at Slovene Street (Slovenska cesta) downward to Prešeren Square and is lined with bars and stores, including the oldest McDonald's restaurant in Slovenia. It is a pedestrian zone and regarded as the capital's central promenade.
Culture
Accent
The Ljubljana accent and/or dialect (Slovene: ljubljanščina [luːblɑːŋʃnɑː] (listen)) is considered a border dialect, since Ljubljana is situated where the Upper dialect and Lower Carniolan dialect group meet. Historically, the Ljubljana dialect in the past displayed features more similar with the Lower Carniolan dialect group, but it gradually grew closer to the Upper dialect group, as a direct consequence of mass migration from Upper Carniola into Ljubljana in the 19th and 20th century. Ljubljana as a city grew mostly to the north, and gradually incorporated many villages that were historically part of Upper Carniola and so its dialect shifted away and closer to the Upper dialects. The Ljubljana dialect has also been used as a literary means in novels, such as in the novel Nekdo drug by Branko Gradišnik, or in poems, such as Pika Nogavička (Slovene for Pippi Longstocking) by Andrej Rozman - Roza.
The central position of Ljubljana and its dialect had crucial impact on the development of the Slovenian language. It was the speech of 16th century Ljubljana that Primož Trubar a Slovenian Protestant Reformer took as a foundation of what later became standard Slovenian language, with a small addition of his native speech, the Lower Carniolan dialect. While in Ljubljana, he lived in a house, on today's Ribji trg, in the oldest part of the city. Living in Ljubljana had a profound impact on his work; he considered Ljubljana the capital of all Slovenes, not only because of its central position in the heart of the Slovene lands, but also because it always had an essentially Slovene character. Most of its inhabitants spoke Slovene as their mother tongue, unlike other cites in today's Slovenia. It is estimated that in Trubar's time around 70% of Ljubljana's 4000 inhabitants attended mass in Slovene. Trubar considered Ljubljana's speech most suitable, since it sounded much more noble, than his own simple dialect of his hometown Rašica. Trubar's choice was later adopted also by other Protestant writers in the 16th century, and ultimately led to a formation of a more standard language.
In literary fiction
Ljubljana appears in the 2005 The Historian, written by Elisabeth Kostova, and is called by its Roman name (Emona).
Ljubljana is also the setting of Paulo Coelho's 1998 novel Veronika Decides to Die.
During 2010, Ljubljana was designated as the World Book Capital by UNESCO.
Festivals
Each year, over 10,000 cultural events take place in the city, including ten international theatre, music, and art festivals.[62] The Ljubljana Festival is one of the two oldest festivals in former Yugoslavia (the Dubrovnik Summer Festival was established in 1950, and the Ljubljana Festival one in 1953). Guests have included Dubravka Tomšič, Marjana Lipovšek, Tomaž Pandur, Katia Ricciarelli, Grace Bumbry, Yehudi Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich, José Carreras, Slid Hampton, Zubin Mehta, Vadim Repin, Valerij Gergijev, Sir Andrew Davis, Danjulo Išizaka, Midori, Jurij Bašmet, Ennio Morricone, and Manhattan Transfer. Orchestras have included the New York Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestras of the Bolshoi Theatre from Moscow, La Scala from Milan, and Mariinsky Theatre from Saint Petersburg. In recent years there have been 80 kinds of events and some 80,000 visitors from Slovenia and abroad.[citation needed] Other cultural venues include Križanke, Cankar Hall and the Exhibition and Convention Centre. During Book Week, starting each year on World Book Day, events and book sales take place at Congress Square. A flea market is held every Sunday in the old city. On the evening of International Workers' Day, a celebration with a bonfire takes place on Rožnik Hill.
Museums and art galleries
Ljubljana has numerous art galleries and museums. The first purpose-built art gallery in Ljubljana was the Jakopič Pavilion, which was in the first half of the 20th century the central exhibition venue of Slovene artists. In the early 1960s, it was succeeded by Ljubljana City Art Gallery, which has presented a number of modern Slovene and foreign artists. In 2010, there were 14 museums and 56 art galleries in Ljubljana. There is for example an architecture museum, a railway museum, a school museum, a sports museum, a museum of modern art, a museum of contemporary art, a brewery museum, the Slovenian Museum of Natural History and the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. The National Gallery (Narodna galerija), founded in 1918, and the Museum of Modern Art (Moderna galerija) exhibit the most influential Slovenian artists. In 2006, the museums received 264,470 visitors, the galleries 403,890 and the theatres 396,440. The Metelkova Museum of Contemporary Art (Muzej sodobne umetnosti Metelkova), opened in 2011, hosts simultaneous exhibitions, a research library, archives, and a bookshop.
Entertainment and performing arts
The Slovenian National Theatre
Cankar Hall is the largest Slovenian cultural and congress center with multiple halls and a large foyer in which art film festivals, artistic performances, book fairs, and other cultural events are held.
Cinema
The cinema in Ljubljana appeared for the first time at the turn of the 20th century, and quickly gained popularity among the residents. After World War II, the Cinema Company Ljubljana, later named Ljubljana Cinematographers, was established and managed a number of already functioning movie theatres in Ljubljana, including the only Yugoslav children's theatre. Cinema festivals took place in the 1960s, and a cinematheque opened its doors in 1963. With the advent of television, video, and recently the Internet, most cinema theatres in Ljubljana closed, and the cinema mainly moved to Kolosej, a multiplex in the BTC City. It features twelve screens, including an IMAX 3D screen. The remaining theatres are Kino Komuna, Kinodvor, where art movies are accompanied by events, and the Slovenian Cinematheque. The Slovenian Cinematheque hosts the international Ljubljana LGBT Film Festival which showcases LGBT-themed films. Founded in 1984, it is the oldest film festival of its sort in Europe.
Classical music, opera and ballet
The Slovenian Philharmonics is the central music institution in Ljubljana and Slovenia. It holds classical music concerts of domestic and foreign performers as well as educates youth. It was established in 1701 as part of Academia operosorum Labacensis and is among the oldest such institutions in Europe. The Slovene National Opera and Ballet Theatre also resides in Ljubljana, presenting a wide variety of domestic and foreign, modern and classic, opera, ballet and concert works. It serves as the national opera and ballet house. Music festivals are held in Ljubljana, chiefly in European classical music and jazz, for instance the Ljubljana Summer Festival (Ljubljanski poletni festival), and Trnfest.
Theatre
In addition to the main houses, with the SNT Drama Ljubljana as the most important among them, a number of small producers are active in Ljubljana, involved primarily in physical theatre (e.g. Betontanc), street theatre (e.g. Ana Monró Theatre), theatresports championship Impro League, and improvisational theatre (e.g. IGLU Theatre). A popular form is puppetry, mainly performed in the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre. Theatre has a rich tradition in Ljubljana, starting with the 1867 first ever Slovene-language drama performance.
Modern dance
The modern dance was presented in Ljubljana for the first time at the end of the 19th century and developed rapidly since the end of the 1920s. Since the 1930s when in Ljubljana was founded a Mary Wigman dance school, the first one for modern dance in Slovenia, the field has been intimately linked to the development in Europe and the United States. Ljubljana Dance Theatre is today the only venue in Ljubljana dedicated to contemporary dance. Despite this, there's a vivid happening in the field.
Folk dance
Several folk dance groups are active in Ljubljana.
Jazz
In July 2015, over four days, the 56th Ljubljana Jazz Festival took place. A member of the European Jazz Network, the festival presented 19 concerts featuring artists from 19 countries, including a celebration of the 75th birthday of James "Blood" Ulmer.
Popular urban culture and alternative scene
In the 1980s with the emergence of subcultures in Ljubljana, an alternative culture began to develop in Ljubljana organised around two student organisations. This caused an influx of young people to the city centre, caused political and social changes, and led to the establishment of alternative art centres.
Metelkova and Rog
A Ljubljana equivalent of Copenhagen's Freetown Christiania, a self-proclaimed autonomous Metelkova neighbourhood, was set up in a former Austro-Hungarian barracks that were built in 1882.
In 1993, the seven buildings and 12,500 square metres (135,000 sq ft) of space were turned into art galleries, artist studios, and seven nightclubs, including two LGBTQ+ venues, playing host to music from hardcore to jazz to dub to techno. Celica Hostel is adjacent to Metelkova with rooms artistically decorated by Metelkova artists. A new part of the Museum of Modern Art is the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art. Another alternative culture centre is located in the former Rog factory. Both Metelkova and the Rog factory complex are near the city centre.
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