City Center West, Ljubljana
- Slovenska cesta, Republic Square, Trg Republike, Congress Square, Kongresni trg, Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity, University of Ljubljana, Nebotičnik Skyscraper, Hotel InterContinental, A-Tower, Nama, TR2, TR3, National Assembely Building, Slovenian Parliament, Government Building, National Museum, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Tivoli City Park, Vila Veselova
The West part of the city center (of Ljubljanica river) has a major road, Slovenska Cesta – or Slovenian Road – that has a quite large amount of highrises, or skyscrapers as the Slovenians call them, for a midsized European city. At the Northern end of Slovenska Road, near the railway station, you find the two tallest highrises in the city center; Hotel InterContinental Ljubljana, a 24-storey, 81m tall luxury hotel built in 2017, and A-Tower -a 81m tall, 22-storey glass hotel tower recently completed, in 2021. Further along the road you find the historic Neboticnik, that simply means “Skyscraper”, built 1930-1933, despite being just 70m and 13 stories high. It was designed by Vladimir Subic and was Slovenia’s first highrise building. On the rooftop there is a 360 degree outdoor café were you can enjoy views of the whole city, for free or the cost of a cup of coffee, that is really inexpensive in Slovenia, or drink. Neboticnik is a fine example of Chicago school architecture, with an art deco inspired interior with sculptures, one elevator and a spiral staircase. The indoor bar on the 12th floor was currently closed (2021). Telekom Slovenije (Slovenian Telecom Bldg) is another classic highrise along Slovenian Road, built in 1965, with a circular rooftop floor. There are also lots of expensive brand stores, other stores and restaurant along Slovenska Cesta. Nama is the largest department store, where you find the entrance to Čop Street (Čopova ulica) the main pedestrian street that goes to the Old Town and the river, where you find brands as H&M, Spar and McDonald’s. Cop St leads to Preseren Square.
The main building of University of Ljubljana (formerly the Carniolan State Mansion) is a large and very beautiful baroque building at the Congress Square (Kongresni trg) with an imposing fountain/statue in front. Kongresni trg is a park like square with lost of greenery on the West riverbank, and here you also find the unusual sharply roofed baroque church (the backside is more traditional baroque) Ursuline Church of the Holy Trinity, officially the Holy Trinity Parish Church in Ljubljana, built in 1718-26, the Anchor Monument, the Slovenian Philharmonic, the Casino Building (one of the few neo-classical buildings left), the Slovene Society Bldg and the Museum of Illusions. A few blocks further West is a very modernist square, Republic Square (Trg Republike). Here you find the TR2 and TR3 1970s highrises in typical grey modernist style, but still landmarks, the Cankar Hall (Cankarjev dom) that is Slovenia’s largest convention, congress and culture center and was built 1977-82 and the National Assembly Building from 1959, that is Slovenia’s parliament building. This 6th storey modernist palace would look rather anonymous, if it wasn’t for the dark sculptures surrounding the entrance, designed by Kalin and Putrih, filled with naked working men and women. Today the square is popular among young skateboarders. Republic Square was originally called Revolution Square. Here Slovenia was declared independent from Yugoslavia in June 26th in 1991. During the construction of Cankar Centre remains of the ancient Roman town Emona was found, the Roman wall was destroyed and remnant were moved to the National Museum of Slovenia (Narodni muzej Slovenije) near Tivoli Park. The museum is neo-renaissence, features a beautiful staircase with a celing with paintings and is Slovenia’s oldest scientific and cultural institution. There is also a modern glass annex. Roman Emona ruins can be found on different places in the city.
In these quarters you find the Government Building, a large 3-storey neo-renaissance palace that houses the President’s office, many foreign embassies and large beautiful villas. The beautiful orthodox church Sts. Cyril and Methodius is also here, built 1932-36 in the small Trubur Park and is famous for its Serbo-Byzantine style with five domes with golden crosses.
This is the area were we stayed, at Vila Veselova. This is a hostel, in a yellow villa at Veselova ulica, next to the Japanese embassy. The architecture is nice, but the building has seen better days. Breakfast was mediocre. We got a large room, but without the bathroom that we paid for.
