Ljubljana Totally Explained

Everything about Ljubljana totally explained

, is the largest city and the capital of Slovenia. Ljubljana is situated in central Slovenia and has 267,386 inhabitants according to census in 2006. It presents nowadays the cultural, scientific, economic, political and administrative center of Slovenia. The city is divided into several quarters, formerly municipalities, which also correspond to the main electoral constituencies of the city: Šiška, Bežigrad, Vič, Moste, and Center.
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.
   Laibach (/'lɑɪbaχ/), 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 (/lʊb'jɑːna/) is a hybrid rendering of the Latin and German versions. These names are important for historical reasons. The name Laibach was popularized again during the 1980's by the experimental music group Laibach.
   The use of the German name was discouraged in Slovenia after 1918 and became especially controversial during the Second World War, when the Nazis tried to implement a violent Germanization policy in most parts of German-occupied Slovenia. 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.
   The area had been populated since prehistory. The earliest known settlements, in the Bronze Age, consisted of wooden houses erected on stakes (palafitos).

History

Beginnings

The Roman settlement Emona (full name: Colonia Iulia Aemona) was erected in 15 AD by the Legio XV Apollinaris. In 452, Aemona was sacked and devastated by the Huns, led by Attila.

Middle Ages

The first records mentioning Ljubljana date to 1144 (referred to by its German name Laibach) and 1146 (by its Latin name, Luwigana).
The settlement received town rights in 1220, and in 1335 came under 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.

Nineteenth century

The Habsburg rule was shortly interrupted by the Napoleonic wars, and between 1809 and 1813 Ljubljana was the capital of the French Illyrian provinces. From 1816 to 1849 Ljubljana was the capital of the Kingdom of Illyria, one of the administrative units of the Austrian Empire. In 1821 the city hosted the Congress of Laibach. Ljubljana witnessed the first train arriving from Vienna in 1849 and the railway connected it with Trieste in 1857. During the second part of the 19th century, Ljubljana emerged as the undisputed cultural center of the Slovene Lands, after some initial rivaly with Klagenfurt.

Earthquake in 1895

On April 14 1895, during the Easter period, an earthquake damaged large parts of the town. The earthquake of 6.1 magnitude struck at 20:17pm, its shocks were felt as far away as Florence, Vienna and Split. At that time, Ljubljana had a population of approximately 31,000 people and around 1400 buildings. About 10 percent of the buildings were damaged or had to undergo large scale demolition, renovation or change afterwards. Very few people were killed and few injured but the earthquake for instance destroyed much of the old monastery in Vodnik Square containing a girl's diocesan college and library, so that this building had to be completely pulled down and at its place developed later Ljubljana's central outdoor market.
The earthquake brought about a wide expansion of the city and a widespread Art Nouveau architectural change which is today juxtaposed against the earlier Baroque style buildings that remain. The Mladika for instance, which houses nowadays the Foreign Ministry of Slovenia, and many other buildings date back to the period immediately after the earthquake. The reconstruction, carried out by the charismatic mayor Ivan Hribar, gave Ljubljana its new, contemporary image.

Twentieth century

With the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, Ljubljana became the unofficial capital of Slovenia in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and in 1929 the official provincial seat of the Drava Banovina within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
The Second World War started here in April 1941, Ljubljana 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 owing to this, the Italian occupation authorities completely encircled it with 30 km of barbed wire fence on February 23 1942. Nazi Germany replaced the Italians as the occupying force after the capitulation of Italy in September 1943. The city was then ruled by Germans and their collaborators until May 1945, when it was liberated by Slovenian partisans. In remembrance to this, the Path of Remembrance and Comradeship has been built along the course of the fence after the war. In 1955 Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito conferred the city of Ljubljana the title of "Hero City" for the heroism shown by the people during WWII (not to be confused with the Soviet title of the same name).

Independent Slovenia

After World War II it became the capital of the Yugoslav Socialist Republic of Slovenia. Ljubljana remained the capital city of Slovenia with the country's independence in 1991 after the break up and a ten day war against the Yugoslav National Army.

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 -5°C in December and more than 30°C in July. Annual rainfall is 1350 millimetres.
In 2002, the city had a population of 265,881.

Districts

Ljubljana has 17 districts:

Architecture

Ljubljana has a strong Alpine feel to it and the architecture underlines this impression - there's also a touch of the Mediterranean (thanks to its geographical proximity). 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 (Art Nouveau) styles. The city's Baroque architecture was mainly influenced by Italian Baroque architecture. The cathedral was designed by Andrea Pozzo in 1701, St. Ursula's church displays Palladian features, and Francesco Robba designed a fountain. One of the most recognisable features of the city, the castle (which dates back to the Middle Ages), 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. One of its most notable high rises is Nebotičnik.

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. Ljubljana is served by Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (IATA LJU; ICAO LJLJ)

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. Moreover, the city houses the permanent seat of the International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS), an international academic group with 10,000 members worldwide.

Famous natives and residents

Climate

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, United States

- Leverkusen, Germany, since 1979

- Mardin, Turkey, since 2003

- Moscow, Russia, since 2000

- Nottingham, England, since 1963

- Parma, Italy, since 1964

- Pesaro, Italy, since 1964

- Ploče, Croatia, since 1982

- Rijeka, Croatia, since 1979

- Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, since 2002

- Skopje, Macedonia

- Sousse, Tunisia, since 1969

- Tbilisi, Georgia, since 1977

- Vienna, Austria, since 1999

- Wiesbaden, Germany, since 1977

- Zagreb, Croatia, since 2001Further Information

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