7 places to see in Ljubljana
Two summers ago we went on a road trip with our car to Italy and on our way back decided to stay the night in Ljubljana and visit the city. We only had the evening and half of the next day, so we didn’t manage to see a lot of things, especially with the rain the next day. When we arrived to the city we decided to go out and walk aimlessly on the streets and slowly discover its secrets and leave the rest of the tourist attractions or the next day. That wasn’t the most inspired idea that we had because we couldn’t really see the attractions since it rained. But we can still tell you what you could visit if you only have a short amount of time.
1. The Dragon Bridge or Zmajski Most dates from 1901 when it was built to celebrate the 40 years’ reign of King Franz Joseph I. It is the first asphalted bridge in Slovenia and the biggest in the capital. In the initial project (1900), the bridge was supposed to be decorated with lions instead of dragons. We say that it looks so much cooler with dragons, but that’s also because we love dragons. By the way, you’ll find a lot of dragon statues around the city, the dragon being the city symbol.
2. The Butcher’s Bridge. 100 meters away from the Dragon’s Bridge there’s a modern pedestrian bridge with glass floors. The legend says that lovers must lock a locket to symbolize the biding with the eternity. We know, you can find those lovers lockets on most European bridges, but we still think that they are cute. You’ll also find here some “works of art”, as in some bronze animal skulls.
3. The Triple Bridge. This is the Km 0 of the city. Over the Ljubljanica river there are 3 bridges, called the Triple Bridge. Half of the bridge is part of the medieval city and the other half part of the new one. The 3 bridges date back from 1842 and were designed by 3 different architects. Back then there were wooden bridges. The actual form of the bridge dates from 1929-1932.
4. Preseren Square with the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation. This is the symbol of the city and you’ll find it near the Triple Bridge. Every weekend there are many concerts and shows. The church is an old one, in an odd color…pink. In the middle of the Square there’s the statue that gave its name, France Preseren, their national poet.
5. Ljubljanica River. It is the main river and it splits the medieval center from the rest of the city. You’ll find here many restaurants and cafes. The river is navigable and we saw a few boats with tourists.
6. Miklošičeva cesta. At number 8 there’s a colorful building that we saw a lot on Instagram and decided that we needed to see it. We found out that this is Vurnik house or The Cooperative Business Bank. It was built in 1921 but tourist can’t visit it.
7. The Castle. We left the Castle for our second day in the city, but unfortunately we didn’t get to visit it. The Medieval Castle is situated on Castle Hill, with a panoramic view over the Old City. It was first mentioned in 1112, and in 1335 became a property of the Habsburg Monarchy. Up until 1960, the poorest families of the city lived here. You can go up the Castle by small city train and a funicular.
