Explore Ljubljana

Prešeren Square is the central square of Ljubljana, part of the old town's pedestrian zone at the head of the Triple Bridge. It is named after the poet France Prešeren, whose 1905 monument stands on it, and is lined by the pink Franciscan Church and Secession-era buildings; Edvard Ravnikar gave it its circular paving in 1987–88.

The Franciscan Church of the Annunciation is a pink Baroque church on Prešeren Square in Ljubljana, built between 1646 and 1660 for the Augustinians and run by the Franciscans since 1784. Its main altar is largely the work of the sculptor Francesco Robba (1736), and its ceiling frescoes are by Matej Sternen.

Ljubljana Cathedral, dedicated to St Nicholas, is the Baroque cathedral of the Archdiocese of Ljubljana, built in 1701–1706 to plans revised by Andrea Pozzo on the site of an earlier Gothic church. Its green dome and twin bell towers stand by Ciril-Metodov trg, and the interior is painted with frescoes by Giulio Quaglio.

Ljubljana Town Hall on Town Square is the seat of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. First built in Gothic style in 1484, it was rebuilt in Baroque style in 1717–1719 by Gregor Maček after plans by Carlo Martinuzzi, gaining its gabled front, loggia and staircase. A replica of Francesco Robba's fountain stands outside.

Nebotičnik is a 13-storey, 70 m high-rise in the centre of Ljubljana, designed by Vladimir Šubic and opened in 1933, when it was the tallest building in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Shops and offices fill the lower floors and flats the middle ones, while a café with a terrace on the 12th floor looks out over the old town and the castle.

Dragon Bridge is a reinforced concrete road bridge over the Ljubljanica river in Ljubljana, opened in 1901 and built on Josef Melan's system to a Vienna Secession design by Jurij Zaninović. Four sheet-copper dragons stand on pedestals at its corners and sixteen smaller ones decorate it; the bridge is protected as a technical monument.

Ljubljana Castle is a castle complex on Castle Hill above the old town of Ljubljana, first recorded in the 12th century and largely rebuilt between the 15th and 17th centuries. Visitors walk up or take the funicular to see the Gothic Chapel of St George, climb the 1848 viewing tower and visit exhibitions on Slovenian history.

The City Museum of Ljubljana, founded in 1935, is housed in the Turjak (Auersperg) Palace at Gosposka 15. Its permanent exhibition, Ljubljana. History. City., traces the city from prehistory and Roman Emona to the present. The collection includes the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel, a wooden wheel with an axle about 5,200 years old.

The National Museum of Slovenia, founded in 1821 as the Carniolan provincial museum, is the country's oldest scientific and cultural institution. Its Neo-Renaissance building near Tivoli Park opened in 1888 and holds archaeological finds, coins and banknotes, and applied arts. A monument to Valvasor stands in front.

The National Gallery of Slovenia, founded in 1918, holds the country's main collection of art from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Since 1925 it has occupied the Narodni dom, built in 1896 to plans by František Škabrout; a glass hall added in 2001 links it to a later wing. The original Robba Fountain is kept inside.

Tivoli Park is the largest park in Ljubljana, stretching west of the city centre to the wooded slopes of Rožnik Hill and protected since 1984 as part of a nature park. Paths lead past Tivoli Mansion, Cekin Mansion with the Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia, a pond, a rose garden and a greenhouse of the botanical garden.