Ljubljana is the capital and the largest city of Slovenia.
The city is located in central Slovenia in a natural depression surrounded by high peaks of the Julian Alps.
As of March 2019, the population of Ljubljana is about 300,000 people.
The city covers a total area of 164 square kilometers (63 square miles).
Ljubljana has an average elevation of 295 meters (968 ft) above sea level. The highest point of the city, called Grmada, reaches 676 meters (2,218 ft) above sea level.
A walled Roman encampment was built there in the mid-1st century BC by Roman legionnaires and developed into the settlement of Emona (Iulia Aemona), though the area had been settled earlier by the Veneti, the Illyrians, and the Celts, beginning about 1000 BC.
Sitting on the route to Pannonia and commanding the Ljubljana Gap, the strategically located city was destroyed by Attila in the mid-5th century.
The Slovene Slavic tribes, migrating westward, rebuilt it in the 12th century, when its name was recorded first as Laibach (1144) and then as Luvigana (1146). It gained city rights in 1220.
It was the historical capital of Carniola, one of the Slovene-inhabited parts of the Habsburg Monarchy.
The city was under Habsburg rule from the Middle Ages until the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918.
After World War II, Ljubljana became the capital of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
In 1991, when Slovenia gained its independence, Ljubljana became the national capital.
Ljubljana Castle is a castle complex standing on Castle Hill above downtown Ljubljana. Originally a medieval fortress, it was probably constructed in the 11th century and rebuilt in the 12th century. It acquired its present outline with an almost complete overhaul in the 15th century, whereas the majority of the buildings date to the 16th and 17th centuries. Initially a defense structure and since the first half of the 14th century the seat of the lords of Carniola, it was since the early 19th century used for various other purposes and today is used as a major cultural venue.
Ljubljana Cathedral officially named St. Nicholas’s Church is a cathedral in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Originally, Ljubljana Cathedral was a Gothic church. In the early 18th century, it was replaced by a Baroque building.
The Triple Bridge is a group of three bridges across the Ljubljanica River. It connects the Ljubljana’s historical, medieval, town on one bank, and the modern city of Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia, on the other. The central bridge is partly built from Glinica limestone. Other parts are built from concrete. The balustrades with 642 balusters are made of artificial concrete.
The Dragon Bridge was built in the beginning of the 20th century, when Ljubljana was part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. As one of the best examples of reinforced concrete bridges and of the Vienna Secession style, the bridge is today protected as a technical monument. Decorated with the Dragon statues on pedestals at four corners of the bridge has become a symbol of the city
Nebotičnik is a prominent high-rise located in the centre of Ljubljana, and is one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks. Its thirteen storeys rise to a height of 70.35 m (231 ft). It was designed by the Slovenian architect Vladimir Šubic for the Pension Institute, the building’s investor. Construction began on 19 April 1931 and the building opened on 21 February 1933.[6] It was, upon completion, the tallest building in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and the ninth-tallest high-rise in Europe.
Metelkova is an autonomous social and cultural centre in the city centre of Ljubljana. Formerly, the site was a military headquarter of the Army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then it became the Slovenian headquarter of the Yugoslav National Army. It consists of seven buildings (military barracks) extended over a total area of 12,500 square meters (134,550 square feet), which have been squatted since September 1993.
Tivoli City Park is the largest park in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Several notable buildings and art works stand in the park. Since 1984, the park has been protected as part of Tivoli–Rožnik Hill–Šiška Hill Nature Park. It is home to a variety of bird species.
Ljubljana Zoo is a 19.6-hectare (48-acre) zoo in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It serves as the national zoo of Slovenia and is open year-round. The zoo is situated on the southern slope of the Rožnik Hill, in a natural environment of woods and meadows about a 20-minute walk from the city center. The zoo is notable in that the city is at the intersection of the Alpine, Pannonian, Mediterranean, and Dinaric habitats and has 119 species and (not counting insects) a total of 500 animals.
Each year, over 10,000 cultural events take place in the city, including ten international theatre, music, and art festivals.
Ljubljana is located some 320 kilometers (200 mi) south of Munich, 477 kilometers (296 mi) east of Zürich, 250 kilometers (160 mi) east of Venice, 350 kilometers (220 mi) southwest of Vienna, 224 kilometers (139 mi) south of Salzburg and 400 kilometers (250 mi) southwest of Budapest.
Only a few old buildings of the Austrian Baroque style survived a violent earthquake in 1895. The subsequent rebuilding of the city, particularly those buildings designed by the Art Nouveau architect Josef Plečnik, gave Ljubljana (apart from the old town on the right bank of the river) a modern appearance.