Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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The Story of Ljubljana
In ancient times, Ljubljana was on the trade route connecting the Mediterranean (just
60 miles away) to the Black Sea (toss a bottle off the bridge here, and it can float
to the Danube and, eventually, all the way to Russia). Legend has it that Jason and
his Argonauts founded Ljubljana when they stopped here for the winter on their way
home with the Golden Fleece. Some stories sayJasonslayed adragonhere, while ac-
cording to others, it was St. George; either way, the dragon remains the city mascot
to this day.
Some of the area's earliest known inhabitants during the Neolithic and Bronze
ages lived in rustic houses on tall wooden piles within the marshy lands surrounding
today's city center, and poled around the shallow lagoons in dugout canoes. Some-
times called “crannoch dwellers” (after similar homes in the Scottish Highlands),
these earliest Ljubljanans left behind precious few bits of evidence that they ever ex-
isted, save for half of a wooden wheel and axle that's some 5,200 years old (and now
belongs to the City Museum).
The area was later populated by the Illyrians and Celts, and was eventually Ro-
manized (and called Emona) before being overrun by Huns, only to be resettled by
Slavs—the ancestors of today's Slovenes.
In 1335, Ljubljana fell under the jurisdiction of the Habsburg emperors, who
calleditLaibachandsteereditsdevelopmentforthenextsixcenturies.Slovenianlan-
guage and culture were considered backward peasant traditions, as most of Laibach's
inhabitants spoke German and lived essentially Austrian lifestyles. Even today,
Ljubljana still feels Austrian—especially thanks to its abundant Austrian Baroque
and Viennese Art Nouveau architecture—but it has a Mediterranean flair.
Napoleon put Ljubljana on the map when he made it the capital of his Illyrian
Provinces, a realm that stretched from the Danube to Dubrovnik, and from Austria
to Albania (for just four short years, 1809-1813). For the first time, the Slovene lan-
guagewastaughtinschools,awakeninganewfoundprideinSlovenianculturalherit-
age.Peoplestilllookbackfondlyonthisverybriefera,whichwasthefirst(andprob-
ably only) time when Ljubljana rose to prominence on the world stage. After more
than 600 years of being part of the Habsburg Empire, Ljubljana has no “Habsburg
Square”...but they do have a “French Revolution Square.”
