Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tions, she's conspicuously depicted with typical Muse accessories: a laurel branch and a
cloak.Evenso,forthefirstfewyearscitizenscoveredthescandalousstatuewithatarpeach
night. And the model who posed for the Muse was so disgraced that no one in Slovenia
would hire her—so she emigrated to South America and never returned.
Stand at the base of the statue to get oriented. The bridge crossing the Ljubljanica
River is one of Ljubljana's most important landmarks, Jože Ple
č
nik's
Triple Bridge
(Tro-
mostovje). The middle (widest) part of this bridge already existed, but Ple
č
nik added the
twosidespanstomoreefficientlyfunnelthesixstreetsoftrafficonthissideofthebridgeto
theonestreetontheotherside.Thebridge'sVenetianvibeisintentional:Ple
č
nikrecognized
that Ljubljana, located midway between Venice and then-capital Vienna, is itself a bridge
betweentheItalianandGermanicworlds.AcrossthebridgearetheTI,WCs,ATMs,market
and cathedral (to the left), and the Town Hall (straight ahead).
Now turn 90 degrees to the right, and look down the first street after the riverbank. Find
the pale woman in the picture frame on the second floor of the first yellow house. This is
Julija,
the unrequited love of Prešeren's life. Tour guides spin romantic tales about how the
couple met. But the truth is far less exciting: He was a teacher in her father's house when
he was in his 30s and she was 4. Later in life, she inspired him from afar—as she does now,
fromacrossthesquare—buttheynevergottogether.Shemayhavebeenhismuse,butwhen
it came to marriage, she opted for wealth and status.
