Lublaň průvodce

General Introduction | History | Sights | Entertainment

Ljubljana City Guide

Ljubljana

In Paolo Coelho's Veronica Decides to Die, the protagonist is depressed because nobody has heard of her city, Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Ljubljana was first a Roman city called Emona. It was destroyed by the barbarians as the Dark Ages began.

With 270,000 residents, Ljubljana is one of the smaller capital cities in Europe. As Slovenia's entire population is only about two million, Ljubljana is the nation's biggest city. It has been compared with Prague, Budapest and Edinburgh for its beauty, but it is, of course, a scaled down version. Ljubljana has a relatively large number of public and cultural buildings, befitting a capital but unusual for a city of its size. Plečnik's Art Nouveau architecture draws many visitors. As a crossroads between eastern and western Europe, it has attracted commercial and economic interests and with them a cultural population. Its university and other institutes of higher learning serve 25,000 students, nearly one out of every ten residents. This gives Ljubljana a young population and a lively atmosphere.