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With its 280.000 inhabitants, Ljubljana most certainly ranks among the smaller European capitals, but we are convinced that many bigger cities could be envious of all that it has, and many who would not. Ljubljana did not become a capital overnight, it prepared for this for centuries. When it was still "only" a provincial capital of Carniola, it became the capital for all Slovenians in 1918, when the Austro-Hungarian monarchy collapsed. A year later, in 1919, it acquired a university, in 1938 the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, a radio station as early as 1926 and TV in 1957. It had its own Philharmonic in 1701 and its opera exactly one hundred years ago, not to speak of its theaters. In short, if smallness is its only deficiency, let it be so, as long as it can!
Even a good thirty years ago the trade mark of Ljubljana was its skyscraper and castle. The castle, which is about a thousand years old, has been under reconstruction for quite a few years now, so that apart from seeing its renovated chapel of St. George, with its coats-of-arms, the pentagonal tower and wedding Hall, we most strongly recommend a visit to its high tower. The points is, there is a fantastic view from there (as you can see below), not only of the city (the rooftops of Old Ljubljana) and its surroundings (like the moody marsh Barje, the green park Tivoli) but also to the Kamnik Alps in the north and the Julian Alps with Triglav and the Karavanke Alps to the north-west.
From the castle you descend into the old part of the city, the quarter between the castle hill and the river Ljubljanica. You won't need more than ten minutes to discover that Ljubljana is a city of the Baroque and also of the work of the architect Joze Plecnik. Actually, you would be unable to cross over the banks of the Ljubljanica river without him, as he had something to do with the Sustarski most (Cobblers' bridge), with Tromostovje (Three Bridges) and in the regulation of the Ljubljanica river itself, as well as at the market, and many other things, too. Among the Baroque monuments we should not only mention the churches (the cathedral, Franciscan, St. James's, the Holy Trinity, the theological seminary) but also the masterpieces of the Venetian sculptor Francesco Robba, the fountain of Carniolian rivers (1751) placed in the centre of Mestni Trg, in front of the Town Hall built in the Renaissance.
If you set off towards Krizanke, the seat of the Ljubljana Festival, you will pass by the City Museum, which is only one of the many in Ljubljana, as there is practically no field for which the capital would not have its own museum. Nor is there any lack of art galleries, and the Slovenians are most proud of their National Art gallery, where many works of Slovenian art through the centuries are on display, while we like most of all to show visitors our impressionists (Jakopic, Grohar, ...), not forgetting that our younger artists, whose works are stored in the Modern Art Gallery, also enjoy international acclaim. If you have time in the evening, do not miss the performances of the Opera or the concerts in the multi-purpose cultural centre of the Ivan Cankar Congress Centre (Cankarjev Dom).
The celebrated British sculptor Henry Moore visited the Postojna Caves in 1955. He wrote with great enthusiasm in the visitor's book: 'This is the best exhibition of Nature's sculpture I have ever seen'.
The word karst has a double meaning. If begun with a capital (Karst), then this means it is the countryside of the hinterlands of the Bay of Trieste; with a small letter at the beginning it denotes a special karst character of a certain landscape. This countryside was first visited years and years ago by curious travelers and researchers who came to unveil the unusual natural phenomena. In the previous century the Karst became a scientific workshop and classroom of a number of foreign teachers. The name karst, which the Slovenians gave to this desolate, waterless countryside in the vicinity of Trieste is overgrown with hills and covered with poor pasture land, where the sun burns in the summer and the karst gales howl in the winter, was taken up by geographers who became acquainted with the karst phenomena for the first time and then took this name to all similar regions and phenomena throughout the world. Karst has become acknowledged as an international scientific term, and with it other Slovenian popular terms, such as dolina and polje.
Water, which constantly shapes the surface of the earth, disappears in the Karst. Below the surface it has created a fantastic underworld of thousands and thousands of caves -- there are about ten thousand in Slovenia -- including six thousand explored corridors, halls, ravines, stalagmites and disappearing rivers, true subterranean poetry. The raindrops and stone and millions of years have created glittering stone crystals which have grown into stalagmites and stalactites. The deep canyons, over which the sinking rivers gurgle, cross lakes and thrust out from the underworld and reach daylight without the slightest respect for state borders. The whole experience is charged with excitement, and invites you to unravel this puzzle of nature.
Slovenia has 17 caves open to the public, where organized guides are available and tourists have complete safety guaranteed. The most famous and interesting are the Postojna Caves, Pivka Cave, Crna (Black) Cave, Predjama, Planina Cave, Skocjan Cave, Vilenica, Dimnice, Kostanjevica Cave, Tabor Cave, Krizna Cave.
The Slovene Karst has been inhabited from the glacial periods onwards, the Skocjanski Kras (the Karst of Skocjan) continually for ten thousand years, this is from the latest part of the Stone Age till today. Characteristic of the Karst is its architecture with masterly made portals, window frames, fountains and other stonecutting elements. The Refosk vine provides this region with a special red wine, the so-called Kraski Teran. The cultivation of the Karst is also emphasized by the white Lipica horses.
The more important places of the Slovene Karst are Postojna, Sezana and Cerknica. Ljubljana, the Slovene capital, grew at the junction of the Karst and Alpine regions.
The natural and cultural heritage of the karst is protected in various regional and landscape parks and nature reserves. Numerous natural and cultural as well as endangered and rare plant and animal species are also rotected
One of the biggest and oldest Alpine nature reserves -- 82,000 hectares -- is the large Triglav National Park, founded in 1924, which nestles in the Slovene Julian and Kamnik Alps. There is no need to introduce it specially, it is famous enough.
All around there is a chain of still too little known resorts:
Bohinj -- a 3 km2 naturally preserved glacial lake enclosed by steep mountain cliffs; fashionable Bled with numerous hotels and with lovely islet in the middle of the lake. In the little church perched on the islet you will be guaranteed a happy love life by ringing the bells;
Kranjska Gora, a skiing centre with a growing number of visitors and with world-renowned ski-jumps in nearby Planica, where the first 100m record was set and where 200m jumps are now an attraction.
And last but not least, Bovec, a mountain resort in the warm and sunny Soca valley;
The Soca river is considered by many to be the most beautiful river in Europe. If you are interested in seeing what 100 tons of water falling 100 m deep each second can do, you can go and see the nearby Boka waterfall. A track will lead you there; but if you don't feel like walking, you can see it from your car, as you can see the equally picturesque Pericnik waterfall beneath Triglav.
And all around there are white and bright panoramic views of the limestone Alps, gorgeously adorned with blooming flowers in summer and gold-plated with larches in autumn. And -- a tip; there is a valley with seven lakes in the very heart of Triglav Park -- it will move the hardest cynic!
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