The country only declared independence (from Yugoslavia) in 1991, but though it might be the capital of a millennial country, Ljubljana’s roots go much deeper, to the foundations of human civilisation itself.
In the city’s museums you’ll find the world’s oldest wooden wheel, 5,600 years old, and the world’s oldest musical instrument: a flute carved from a bear’s femur 55,000 years ago, both excavated nearby.
In 14AD, the Romans arrived from neighbouring Italy and founded Emona, a military encampment which would later become a bustling city. Not much of it is left, but you can see the walls of Emona hidden in one of Ljubljana’s many underground car parks. Later, a medieval castle was erected on the hill at the city’s heart, offering stunning vistas over Ljubljana and out to the misty mountains which lie just beyond.
Ljubljana suffered no damage during either of the world wars, nor Slovenia’s war for independence, making the central old town a beautiful place to find original Secession (a genre of art nouveau) architecture which bigger, more tourist heavy cities like Vienna and Prague are known for.
That’s all due to the influence of Jože Plečnik, a beloved architect who is to Ljubljana as Gaudi is to Barcelona. From houses to markets to cemeteries to bridges, even the widening and deepening of the Ljubljanica river itself, if you see an architectural marvel in Ljubljana you can be 99 percent sure Plečnik is responsible.
Source link : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/slovenia/ljubljana/ljubljana-slovenia-without-the-ego/
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Publish date : 2023-10-27 03:00:00
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