'' (
IPA: ) is the
capital and largest city of
Slovenia. The city of Ljubljana is the cultural, scientific, economic, political and administrative center of Slovenia. It is situated in central Slovenia, between the
Alps and the
Mediterranean. The city is divided into several quarters, formerly
municipalities, the main ones being
Šiška,
Bežigrad,
Vič,
Moste, and
Center, which also correspond to the main
electoral constituencies of the city.
Its transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific and research institutions and industrial tradition underly its leading economic position. Ljubljana is the seat of the central government,
administrative bodies and all
government ministries. It is also the seat of
Parliament and the Office of the
President of Slovenia.
Name
Linguists disagree as to where the name Ljubljana comes from. A close similarity to the Slovene word "ljubljena," or "beloved," is generally thought to be coincidental. Although the name could have evolved from the
Latin term for a flooding river, ''alluviana'', some believe the source of the present-day name is
Laburus, a deity from old
Slavic mythology and supposed patron of the original settlement. Other linguists reconstruct an earlier ''Lablana'', rejecting both a Latin or
Slavic source, but without settling on an etymology.
[1]
Laibach (), the
German name for the city, derives from ''Laibach'' (and also possibly ''Laubach''), meaning "a lukewarm
brook" in German; ''lai'' ("tepid") + ''bach'' ("brook"). Its
Italian name ''Lubiana'' () is a hybrid rendering of the Latin and German versions. These names are important for historical reasons.
The use of the German name was forbidden in Slovenia after 1918 and became especially controversial during the
Second World War. Nowadays most Germans use the term ''Ljubljana''. On the other hand, ''Laibach'' is still widely used especially in
Austria and southern Germany, as well as by the German embassy in Ljubljana.
Geography and demographics
Ljubljana is located at 46.03°N, 14.30°E on the outfall of the river
Ljubljanica into the
Sava. It lies at an altitude of 298 metres
AMSL. The temperature varies between 0°C in December and 21.9°C in July. Annual rainfall is 1350 millimetres (53.2 inches).
In 2002, the city had a population of 265,881.
History
The area had been populated since prehistory. The earliest known settlements, in the Bronze Age, consisted of wooden houses erected on stakes (
palafites).
The
Roman settlement
Emona (full name: ''Colonia Iulia Aemona'') was erected in
15 AD by the
XV Legio Apollinaris; in
452, Aemona was sacked and devastated by the
Huns, led by
Attila.
The first records mentioning Ljubljana date to 1144 (referred to by its
German name ''Laibach'') and 1146 (by its Latin name, ''Luwigana'').
Cathedral (''Stolnica'')
The settlement received town rights in 1220, and in 1335 came under
Austrian
Habsburg rule, lasting until 1918. During this time Ljubljana was the capital of the duchy of
Carniola. Ljubljana also became the seat of a diocese in 1461 and developed into a Slovenian cultural centre during the late
Middle Ages. Ljubljana experienced an
earthquake in 1511.
The Habsburg rule was shortly interrupted by the
Napoleonic wars, and between 1809 and 1813 Ljubljana was the capital of the
French Illyrian provinces. In 1821 the city hosted the
Congress of Laibach. In 1849 Ljubljana witnessed the first train arriving from
Vienna and in 1857 Ljubljana was connected to
Trieste. Once again an earthquake damaged large parts of the city in 1895 and the following reconstruction gave Ljubljana its new contemporary image.
With the disintegration of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, Ljubljana became the provincial seat of the
Drava Banovina within the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In April 1941 it was occupied by
Italy and on
February 23 1942 Italians completely encircled it with 32 km of
barbed wire. In 1943 the Italian occupation changed to
German. For the achievements during this time
Josip Broz Tito awarded Ljubljana in 1955 with the title "Hero City" (not to be confused with the
Soviet title
of the same name).
After
World War II it became the capital of the
Yugoslav socialist republic of Slovenia. Ljubljana remained the capital city when Slovenia gained independence in 1991 after a
ten day war against the
Yugoslav National Army.
Timeline:
http://www.ljubljanafestival.si/en/ljubljana_castle/history/
Architecture
Ljubljana has a strong
Austrian/
Alpine feeling to it and the architecture underlines this impression. Ljubljana was devastated by
earthquakes several times. After an earthquake in 1511, Ljubljana was rebuilt in the
Renaissance style, and after an earthquake in 1895 severely damaged the city, the city was rebuilt in Neo-Classicist and Secession (Austrian
Art Nouveau) styles. The city's Baroque architecture was mainly influenced by Italian Baroque architecture (for instance, the cathedral was designed by
Andrea Pozzo in 1701, St. Ursula's church displays Palladian features,
Francesco Robba designed a fountain). One of the main features of the city, the castle, which dates back to
prehistory, is undergoing renovation. Large areas of the city built in the early 20th century feature the work of native architect
Jože Plečnik, including several bridges.
Art and Music
The National Gallery (''Narodna galerija'') and the Museum of Modern Art (''Moderna galerija'') are both situated in Ljubljana, showing the greatest Slovenian artists. There is also a large
counterculture centre on
Metelkova Street, housed in a former Yugoslav military complex, comparable, roughly, to Berlin's
Tacheles. Metelkova hosts films and lectures, as well as concerts of mainly alternative music.
There are a number of music festivals with mainly
classical music and
jazz such as the Ljubljana Summer Festival (''Ljubljanski poletni festival'') and Druga Godba, a
world music festival. In the 1980s Ljubljana was the center of the
Neue Slowenische Kunst movement, which included the musical group
Laibach, and with which the theorist
Slavoj Žižek was also associated.
Public transportation
Public transportation in Ljubljana is composed of city buses, operated by the city-owned company
Ljubljanski potniški promet (LPP). There have been many discussions about implementing a
light rail system on the streets again (the last
tram in Ljubljana stopped operating in 1958) as the city is facing a huge amount of traffic during
rush hour. There are also many
taxis in Ljubljana, and in
December 2006, a new
funicular to the
Ljubljana Castle was introduced.
The suburban area of Ljubljana is covered by an extensive network of suburban buses and trains.
Education
In 1693 the Scholar Society (''
Academia operosorum Labacensis'') was established in Ljubljana. This fell into decline in 1801 but was a forerunner to the present
Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts which opened in 1938. The city's only university, the
University of Ljubljana, was established in 1919. The city is also home to one of the oldest philharmonics of Europe, the Philharmonic Society (''Academia Philharmonicorum''), established in 1701.
Famous natives
★
Maks Bajc (1919–1983), Actor
★
Andrej Bajuk (1942), Politician
★
Robert Blinc (1933), Physicist
★
Carlos, Duke of Madrid (1848–1909), Claimant to the Spanish throne
★
Aleš Debeljak (1961), Poet, essayist and sociologist
★
Mladen Dolar, Philosopher
★
Anastasius Grun (1806–1876), Austrian politician
★
Edvard Kardelj (1910–1979), Communist leader
★
Ivana Kobilca (1861–1926), Painter
★
Taja Kramberger (1970), Poet, essayist and anthropologist
★
Boris Kidrič (1912–1953), Communist leader
★
Josip Murn Aleksandrov (1879–1901), Poet
★
Radoslav Nesterovič (
1976-), NBA basketball player
★
Anton Peterlin (1908–1993), Physicist
★
Jože Plečnik (1872–1957), Architect
★
Janez Potočnik (1958), European Commissioner
★
Fritz Pregl (1869–1930), Chemist, Nobel prize winner
★
Anton Rop (1960), Politician
★
Dimitrij Rupel (1946), Politician and writer
★
Janez Strnad (1934), Physicist and populariser of natural science
★
Janez Vajkard Valvasor (1641-1693), Scholar, Polymath, Member of the Royal Society
★
Milan Vidmar (1885–1962), Electrical engineer, chess player and philosopher
★
Egon Zakrajšek (1941–2002), Mathematician and computer scientist
★
Alenka Zupančič, Philosopher
★
Slavoj Žižek (1949), Sociologist and philosopher
Sister cities
★ -
Athens,
Greece, since 2000
★ -
Belgrade,
Serbia, since 2003
★ -
Bratislava,
Slovakia, since 1967
★ -
Brussels,
Belgium, since 2004
★ -
Chemnitz,
Germany, since 1966
★ -
Chengdu,
People's Republic of China, since 1981
★ -
Cleveland, Ohio,
United States
★ -
Leverkusen,
Germany, since 1979
★ -
Moscow,
Russia, since 2000
★ -
Parma,
Italy, since 1964
★ -
Pesaro,
Italy, since 1964
★ -
Ploče,
Croatia, since 1982
★ -
Rijeka,
Croatia, since 1979
★ -
Sarajevo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, since 2002
★ -
Sousse,
Tunisia, since 1969
★ -
Tbilisi,
Georgia, since 1977
★ -
Vienna,
Austria, since 1999
★ -
Wiesbaden,
Germany, since 1977
★ -
Zagreb,
Croatia, since 2001
★ -
Pueblo, Colorado,
United States, since 1991
Trivia
★ In 1888/89,
Gustav Mahler was the director of the Ljubljana Philharmonic Society Orchestra.
★ In 1970, Ljubljana hosted the entire
FIBA Basketball World Championships.
★ Ljubljana hosted the
2001 Bush-Putin Summit where the first-ever meeting of
US President George W. Bush and
Russian President Vladimir Putin took place.
★ Ljubljana hosted the 2006
International Mathematical Olympiad from 6-18 July 2006.
★ It also hosted the 2006
World Saxophone Congress from 5-9 July 2006.
★ It also hosted the
IAESTE SID (Seminar of IAESTE Development) from 21-24 April 2005.
★ Ljubljana is the hometown of world-renowned Lacanian psychoanalyst and critical theorist
Slavoj Žižek, who occasionally teaches at the
University of Ljubljana.
★ Ljubljana is also home to the world's largest
digital clock.
See also
★
University of Ljubljana
★
Ljubljana Castle
★
Prešeren Square
★
Tromostovje
★
Nama
References
1. Paliga, Sorin. ''Pre-Slavic place-names''. 2002.
External links
'General'
★
The Website of the City of Ljubljana (official)
'Travel'
★ on
Wikitravel
★
Official tourist site
★
Ljubljana Brnik Airport
'Photos'
★
Europe on the Matrix: Ljubljana, Slovenia — Photographs and information.
★
Pictures of Ljubljana by night
'Maps'
★
Interactive map
★
Map with panoramatic views
★
Street map of Ljubljana, result of
Ljubljana collaborative mapping project using
OpenStreetMap
★
Interactive map of Ljubljana with marked spots of Jože Plečnik`s architecture.
'Miscellaneous'
★
Metelkova mesto
★
University of Ljubljana
★
The Ljubljana Blog — A blog about life and events in Ljubljana.
★
Ljubljana Life Magazine — Guide to Culture, Entertainment, and Expatriate Living in the Slovenian Capital
★
Botanic garden Ljubljana
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