Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

(Ben Green) #1

422


For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp446–7 and pp448–9


Market^3
Glavna tržnica

Adamič-Lundrovo nabrežje. Map F3.
# Nov–Mar: 8am–3pm Mon–Sat;
Apr–Oct: 8am–5pm Mon–Sat.

The northern end of Ljubljana’s
Old Town has long been the
site of the city’s large and
lively market. Running along
the curving bank of the
Ljubljanica river is the Market
Colonnade, a Classical-
inspired structure built by
Jože Plečnik in 1942 to
provide shelter for a row
of delica tessen stalls. Built
into the riverbank itself, the
colon nade’s lower storey is
home to a fish market filled
with glistening heaps of
octopus, squid and lobster

St Nicholas’s
Cathedral^2
Stolnica sv Nikolaja

Dolničarjeva ulica. Map E3.
Tel (01) 231 0684. # 6am–noon
& 3–7pm daily.

Built on the site of an earlier
church by leading Jesuit archi -
tect Andrea Pozzo in 1707,
this Baroque cathedral is
dedi cated to St Nicholas,
patron saint of fishermen and
sailors. The cathedral’s
exterior has two doors, built
for Pope John Paul II’s visit in
1996, each deco rated with
expressive bronze reliefs. The
west door is adorned with
scenes from the history of
Slovene Christianity; it
portrays the bap tism of the
Slovene nation at the bottom,

Ljubljana Castle^1
Ljubljanski grad


Grajska planota 1. Map E3.
Tel (01) 306 4293. # May–Sep:
9am–10pm daily; Oct–Apr: 10am–
9pm daily. Virtual Museum


10am–6pm daily. &


Looming above the Old Town,
Ljubljana Castle dates from
the 11th cen tury when the
Spannheims adopted the city
as their feudal power base.
Following Ljubljana’s absorp-
tion by Austria in 1355, the
castle became the pro p erty of
the Habsburg fam ily. It went
on to serve as army barracks,
a refuge for the poor and a
prison. Now an immaculate
building with manicured


SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE

A section of Ljubljana’s medieval
castle, high above the Old Town


Exterior of St Nicholas’s Cathedral, dominated by its twin towers


with Pope John Paul II shown
peer ing from a window at
the top. The south door
depicts the tall mitred profiles
of six of Slovenia’s 20th-
cen tury bis hops, praying
at the tomb of Christ.
Inside, the cathedral has a
rich sequence of side chapels
and a nave domi nated by an
Illusionist ceiling painting of
the Crucifixion by Giulio
Quaglio (1610–58).
Down a side street
brightened by flower stalls
is the 18th-century portal of
Ljubljana’s seminary, framed
by a pair of titans carved by
Andrea Pozzo. The semi nary’s
library is decorated with
frescoes by Quaglio and can
be visited by contacting the
Ljubljana tourist information
office in advance (see p442).

lawns, the castle has several
points of interest grouped
around its irregular court yard.
Built in 1848 to serve as a
viewing platform, the spec-
tacular Clock Tower provides
a won der ful view of the city,
with the Karavanke Moun-
tains visible to the north.
On the western side of the
courtyard, the remarkable 15th-
century Gothic Chapel of St
George has a ceiling deco-
rated with the coats of arms
of the Carniola province’s
leading feudal families. The
nearby Virtual Museum
(Virtualni muzej) showcases
the history of the city through
an impressive 20-minute
audio-visual presentation.
Local produce in Ljubljana’s
bustling Market
Free download pdf