Ljubljana Castle and Old Town

Ljubljana sits along the Ljubljanica River, and from the hill above the old town the castle keeps watch over a city whose centre is famously free of through traffic, its streets given over to pedestrians, cyclists and the occasional tram. The city was first settled by Romans in the first century CE and named Emona, and some Roman remains are still visible in the city. The medieval city that grew around the castle was rebuilt after a major earthquake in 1511, and the city that survives today largely dates from the 17th to 19th centuries. Ljubljana Castle, first mentioned in the 12th century but rebuilt several times since, stands on a hill above the old town and its tower provides a panoramic view across the red tile roofs to the mountains beyond. The castle has served as a fortress, a prison and a residence, and today houses a museum and a café.

The Triple Bridge, completed in 1765, connects the old town to the new district across the Ljubljanica and is the most famous of several bridges in the city centre. It was designed by Giuseppe Zucconi and is considered one of the earliest examples of a triple bridge in European architecture, a form that would later be taken up and reinterpreted by Joze Plecnik in the 20th century. The Dragon Bridge, completed in 1901, is decorated with dragon sculptures and is one of the most photographed structures in the city; the dragons have become a symbol of Ljubljana and appear on souvenirs throughout the city. The 1895 earthquake destroyed much of the city centre and the rebuilding gave the city a Secessionist character that is still visible today, particularly in the works of the architect Joze Plecnik, Slovenia's most famous 20th-century architect.

Plečnik's Ljubljana is a recognisable city: the Triple Bridge, the National and University Library, the Covered Market and several churches and monuments bear his distinctive mark, a synthesis of classical forms with vernacular tradition. The city's open-air market along the Ljubljanica has been operating since the Middle Ages and is a gathering place for locals and visitors alike. In 1918 Ljubljana became the capital of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later Yugoslavia, and has been the political and cultural centre of Slovenia ever since. The city today has a population of around 280,000 and is known for its café culture, its river-side bars and its cultural events, including an annual bioscope festival and a vibrant music scene that reflects the city's central European and Mediterranean heritage.

The work of Jože Plečnik gives Ljubljana one of the most distinctive and personal cityscapes in Central Europe.

A genuinely car-free old town centre makes the city pleasant to walk and provides a human scale that larger capitals lack.

The castle hill gives a 360-degree view of the city and the Alpine foothills beyond, free of charge.