CC Travel Blog

Pronounced as “lu-blee-ana”, Ljubljana is a neat city of Slovenia. Compared to Zagreb, it is less industrial and yet neat and cozy in its own way.

Enroute from Bled to Ljubljana, we cross River Zava where there is a church on top of a hill. Legend goes that when the Ottomen wanted to attack Ljubljana, their plan was to take down the village on the hill by noon and then attack the city. The villagers found out about the plan and cleverly rang the noon bell half an hour early. Thinking that they did not have enough time to attack the city, the Ottomen gave up the plan and Ljubljana was saved. From that day on, the village keep their tradition of rining the noon bell half an hour early.

Ljubljana is a big college town. The campus is all scattered around the city with no fenced campus or facilities. The following is the ex-world trade center and the tallest building in Ljubljana.

This is the college dorm with red balcony building.

Bus is the only public transportation in the city, unlike Zagreb where trams are also available. We pass downtown of Ljubljana, and the only Orthodox church in the city before our city tour begins.

In Slovenian, Ljubljana means “love”, so how can you not love this city? Even the kids are friendly and smart. Their quick glimpse grasp my zoomed in camera lens, and quickly react with a clever smile.

We first see city’s theatre, then the furnicular and the castle on top of the hill.

By now, we are pretty sure that rain or shrine, there is a farmer’s market open everyday in the city center.

Ljubljana is an exciting town, even the winding streets and colorful houses distinguish itself from the industrial Zagreb and the dull dark color western Europe. The houses are mostly 3 windows wide due to the legislation with the purpose to allow more houses to be built after a major earthquake.

Walking pass an alley, Rok, our guide, points us to a portal gate. It is used to be a cemetery and now it is a theology school; unfortunately it is short of students. Priests become scarce in the city and some churches have to share one priest.

Every city has a cathedral, Ljubljana is no exception.

The cathedral is from the 18th century, architect by Andrea Pozzo and built between 1701 and 1706. Although the city’s saint is St. George, the church honors St. Nikolas because he is the saint for the sea, which is more appropriate for Ljubljana which used to be a fishing village. So you may see the name St. Nikolas Church on some tour book instead of the name Cathedral. The cathedral has two bronze doors, the first we see is the Ljubjana Door where St. Nikolas is crafted on.

The second door is the Slovenia Door, which has the history of Slovenia crafted on. A few years ago, Pope John II visited Ljubljana, so they remade the door with Pople John on there to honor his visit.

Interior of the cathedral is glamourous.

Opposite the cathedral is the city’s oldest restaurant serving Slovenian cuisine.

Another 5 minutes walk we reach the Three Carolinian River Fountain Square with the City Hall at the corner of the square. Unlike most tours, Rok leads us into the City Hall.

Inside the City Hall, the left wall of the interior hangs three paintings, depicting the Ottomen ruling era of Slovenia.

Step pass the paintings there is a small courtyard with Ljubljana’s map crafted on the high wall and a small fountain on the corner by Francesco Robba of Narcisis.

Robba’s signature of his works is the combined two fingers to represent two b’s of his name because Robba thinks that putting his name on the sculture would destroy the perfectness of his work.

On the wall of the courtyard, there are two signs, the eagle and the dragon. The eagle represents the province of Slovenia and the dragon on top of a castle represents Ljubljana.

Going out from the City Hall and walk straight for a bit then make a right turn, a beautiful river shows up with a cafe street along the riverbank.

The river is amazingly green and calm. Despite the gloomy weather, the water color like impression of Ljubljana is hard pressed onto my mind.

Walking around Ljubljana we see history everywhere. This is the city’s oldest house in its original form, built in 1520.

To cross the river, there is the Stone Bridge. It is the photo spot for the river as well as the castle on the hill.

Across the river, we come to the head quarter of Ljubljana University.

Surrounded by the academic atmosphere, opposite the university building is the Symphony Building where Mozart is a member of and he gave one of his written notes to the house.

Saving the best to the last, we finally arrive at the Preseren Square with Preseren statue on the right and St. Francescan Church (built in the 18th century) on the left. The church is in its original form, baroque style.

Preseren is a famous poet of Slovenia and he fell in love with a girl that is in a higher social class. The square cleverly depicts the sad love story. The statue of the girl on one end of the street is looking at somewhere else while Preseren looks at her with his eyes filled with love and compassion.

There are many pretty buildings on the square such as the green building which was the private home of a businessman.

Another building on the corner is the department store with the vanity statue on the top ironically.

Here is another colorful beauty.

Ljubljana is nearby a seashore national park. To fully utilize the natural resources, Slovenians extracted salt from the seashore and package them elegantly to sell sea salt.

Ljubljana has some interesting restaurants and cafes. For example, here are the Cafe Romeo on one side and the Julia Cafe on the other side.

How would you feel like having a Romeo drink, contemplating Julija across, while flashing the beauty of Ljubljana in the mind like a non stop slide show. As the word Ljubljana goes, the city is full of love everywhere.