Today we reached another new country for us: Slovenia. We spent the day exploring their capitol, Ljubljana.

Dragon Bridge

Ljubljana was built on the site of a Roman city called Emona, which was located below what is now the castle hill. The mythical story behind the founding of Ljubljana is that Jason and the Argonauts stole the golden fleece from King Aietes and fled, they stopped at the lake that is the source of the Ljubljanica River. There they found, fought, and slayed a dragon. Because of this, the dragon is the symbol of Ljubljana.

Ljubljana does sit on the Ljubljanica River. There is evidence of settlements there dating back to prehistorical times. The first permanent settlements were around 4500 BC with pile-dwellings. The oldest wooden wheel with an axle in the world was discovered in this area. It dates back to around 3200 BC. The Celts came to the area around 300 BC, followed by the Romans. Then came Huns and Ostrogoths, Lombards, Avars, and Slavs.

Ljubljana Castle

The city has a castle that is up on a hill, overlooking the city. The castle was likely originally built in the 11th century and we know there is written documentation of it by 1161. The current structure of the castle was in place by the 15th century, although most of the currently-standing buildings were built in the 16th and 17th centuries. The castle is seen on the city’s coat of arms, but there it is seen with a dragon on top. We did not see a dragon on our tour today. You can get up to the castle via a funicular. The castle has various separate museum sections, including a nice section on the castles in the country and another on the history of Slovenia.

Castle

Roman coins from local excavations: 1st-5th centuries

Stone axes from pile-dwellings, 4500-2500 BC

chapel at the castle

Castle as seen from below

We spent the rest of the day wandering around the old town. It sits on the Ljubljanica River, so there are numerous bridges. The most famous is the Dragon Bridge, which has 4 large dragon statues. It was built in 1901 and was the first bridge in Slovenia to be paved with asphalt.

Dragon Bridge as seen from Butcher’s Bridge

Dragon Bridge

Slovene National Poet: France Preseren

Ljubljana City Hall

Open air market

We did go into the Ljubljana Cathedral, also known as St Nicholas’ Church. This was completed in 1706, although the current building is on the site of a prior church which was present in 1262. The interior has frescoes from the early 1700s. The bronze doors were replaced in 1996 in commemoration of the 1250th anniversary of Christianity in Slovenia.

Ljubljana Cathedral

frescoes

Cathedral door