Buildings in Old Town Ljubljana

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Slovene Academy of Arts and Sciences with baroque exterior
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Another baroque building
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Building converted into a department store

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Building facade facing Sava River
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Bell Tower of the Church of St Florian (1672)
Just below the castle
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Building across street from cathedral
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Town Hall
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Looking from Town Hall Square towards cathedral
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Robba Fountain on left in Town Hall Square
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Close-up of fountain
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Wall painting in Town Hall
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Painting in Town Hall
Home page  |  Ljubljana page bldg14.JPG (87039 bytes)
Building across the street from Town Hall
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Small square by Sava River
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Apartment buildings in the hillside below the castle

Slovene Academy of Arts and Sciences
This institute has its seat in a Baroque palace which was given its present facade in the mid-18th century. It was formerly the seat of the "Landhaus" (Provincial Diets) and also served as a stage for visiting Italian theatres. The square which opens in front of the building was formally the heartland of the Ljubljana aristocracy. It is surrounded by the town houses of the most prominent aristocratic families of former Carniola. All the buildings in the square have preserved Baroque exteriors.

Fountain of Carniolan Rivers (Robba's Fountain)
Francesco Robba  was a disciple of Pietro Baretta, one of the leading Venetian masters. He came to Ljubljana in the early years of the 18th century, took over a stonemasonry workshop and soon became the most important sculptor between Ljubljana, Klagenfurt and Zagreb. In 1751 he built the Fountain of Three Carniolan Rivers, a major symbol of baroque Ljubljana. The work took nine years and was dogged by constant trouble, this was quickly followed by the artist's financial ruin and departure to Zagreb. The fountain has the shape of an old city seal and the three figures of old men with muscular, athletic bodies are supposed to symbolize three rivers; the Ljubljanica, Sava and Krka.

Town Hall
The first building erected here in 1484 was rebuilt in 1718 to the plans of the architect Gregor Maček. It has preserved a number of memorials of Ljubljana's past, including the Hercules and Narcissus fountain (the work of Robba's workshop) and the Gothic auditorium, in which Ljubljana residents attended theatrical performances by itinerant comedians in the 16th and 17th centuries. Today it is the seat of the Ljubljana City Council.

In front of the building stands one of the most representative monuments in Ljubljana, the fountain with allegorical sculptures of the three Carniolan rivers: the Sava, Krka and Ljubljanica. It was created in 1751 by Francesco Robba, the great master of a Ljubljana sculptural studio in the first half of the 18th century.


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