Saturday May 25 was a mainly cloudy day with a few short periods of rain. Luckily, it was clear at the beginning and end of the day. High of 22C. Late morning, we headed out to the Central Market to buy some fish and vegetables.
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| Our favourite picture on the walk to the market- greenery and the Castle above |
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| We 💓 Ljubljana! |
We went to the fish market first. It is located in the lower level of the main market building, designed by Jože Plečnik. We headed down some stairs with Plečnik's signature columns at the entrance.
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| Walking down to the fish market |
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| It's a very long but airy, clean hall with lots of vendors |
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| We picked up some orata (sea bream) and another white fish |
Then we went outside to the fruit and vegetable section. A group of musicians from the Philharmonic were playing and folks were handing out their summer program.
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| Romantica |
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Allan had his favourite- pistachio (with pistachios from Bronte in Silicy).
I had a delicious vegan chocolate. |
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Monument to Slovenian War Volunteers in the square- a tribute to the Slovenian volunteer fighters who fought for the liberation, unification and equality of the Slovenian people in the years 1912-1918. It is a tall cylindrical bronze column decorated with relief sculptures of soldiers, nurses and other volunteers.
We went back to the apartment for a light lunch and then headed out to visit the City Museum of Ljubljana which is located in the Auersperg Palace about a five minute walk from our apartment. We went to see both the permanent exhibit and a temporary exhibit entitled: From Corset to Jacket: How the People of Ljubljana Dressed 1850-1950. |
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The museum is located in the Auersperg Palace, a historic building once owned by the House of Auersperg, dukes of Carniola. It was built in around 1642 combining a number of houses. The museum has undergone several restorations but beautiful Renaissance architectural features remain. In 1935, the Palace was bought by the Municipality to house the City Museum of Ljubljana. The period from 2000-2004 saw the most recent major renovation including the basement. |
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Poster for temporary exhibit- From Corset to Jacket
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The exhibit contained items from the City Museum's Textile Collection which currently has about 4500 items. The collection began to be assembled in the mid 1950s. The exhibit had an emphasis on the clothing culture of the Ljubljana middle classes. There were many examples of clothing from birth to mourning. There were also two topical themes- the wearing of fur and sustainable fashion. The exhibit pointed out that fur, worn as an indicator of status, was very popular in the interwar period, but now faux fur and animal prints are widely accepted. The exhibit also stressed that in the past people's attitude to dressing was different than it is today. "Dressing had a value, meaning that old clothes were never thrown away. Clothes were passed down and clothing alteration was a common activity of seamstresses during the interwar period". This was common even among the middle classes.
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| Girls apron, for ages 5-6, 1937-1942- It was sewn for a girl born in 1935 by her mother when the girl was about two. Later it was altered and made bigger as the girl grew- the insertions of fabric are visible. The donor of the clothes recalled feeling ashamed as she wore mended clothes. |
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| Winter coat with fur collar, 1930-50, worn by a teacher, later a professor's wife |
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| Parachute silk fabric for men's shirts-- highly sought-after commodity at the end of WWII, due to general shortages. This parachute was found at the end of war by two men and divided in half. |
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A veil from a wedding dress became a prop for the actor Duša Počkaj in the Slovenian film
Dancing in the Rain (1961) |
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| Aristocratic dressing gown - belonged to Countess Anita of Lichtenberg who lost her title when she married a commoner. She still called herself Countess--she wore this dressing gown until her daughter, Vanda was born in 1909. It was then stored in a leather suitcase. Decades later it remained Vanda's dearest memory of her mother. |
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The silk taffeta had been bought before WWII for the purpose of making a national costume skirt. It survived the war and was then used to make an evening dress for the owner to attend an elite dance ball
at Ljubljana's Union Hotel, 1947
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There was a whole section of the exhibit showing items of clothing worn by famous Ljubljana residents. (There was a lot of reflection on the glass- so I am not sharing too many photos from this section of the exhibit)
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| Josip Kette: Fashion shop |
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| Lily Novy (1885-1958), poet, translator, and cosmopolitan |
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| Evening dress of Hanna Štular, 1956- made for the elite press ball at the Union Hotel in 1956 |
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| Evening (ball) dress, 1955 worn at a medics' ball |
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| Charleston ball dress c. 1927, dance shoes c. 1925 |
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| View of the display of dresses |
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| Wedding dress, 1961 and Wedding photo of Aljoša Furlana and Mirjam Polkanšek, June 3, 1961 |
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| Evangelical bride's wedding dress, 1937 |
We then went upstairs to the Permanent Exhibit. The first room was an art installation done in collaboration with Ljubljana artist Damijan Kracina involving sculptures and paintings from the museum's collection. The message was that there is no city without people and their "faces". "The people are the city. The known and the unknown."
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Wooden wheel with an axle is around 5200 years old and is believed to be the oldest in the world.
It was discovered in 2002. |
There was a section about Emona, the Roman city founded in the 1st century AD in part of present day Ljubljana. It lasted until the 5th century before it was abandoned. By the end of the Middle Ages, Ljubljana was part of the Habsburg Monarchy. The Museum had a series of posters outlining the history of the city.
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| Matevž Lang's, Julija Primic), 1836-37. Langus' portrait of Julija Primic, the poet France Prešeren's muse. |
There was a map of Fabiani's Ljubljana. Maks Fabiani (1865-1962), an architect who worked in Vienna, Trieste, Gorica and Ljubljana, presented his vision for the city's development after the 1895 earthquake. His concentric design of the city, with the Castle at the centre remains the basis of the establishment of the urban core surrounded by a ring road. At the beginning of the 29th century, several Secession buildings were also constructed in Ljubljana according to Fabiani's plans.
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| Amazing to think of the city enclosed by barbed wire during WWII |
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| There was a section on Plečnik's Ljubljana. He has been a real revelation to us. So many works in the city were designed by him between 1921-1957. |
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| Allan in the driver's seat- a Fiat Zastava 750, the classic "Fičko" car |
We then went downstairs to have a coffee at the Museum's café, run by Stow Coffee Roasters. Excellent coffee and a lovely setting. Lots of locals come into the Museum to have coffee there.
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| Allan picked up a brochure for Ljubljana Coffee festival to be held in September (hmm..maybe we'll have to come back) |
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| Very nice place for a coffee or drink |
We finally headed into the subbasement where there are some Roman ruins, including remains of the original Roman road and sewer system found right under the museum as well as some artifacts. In the Roman era, this was a suburban area of Emona with a river port. While digging for the basement in 2000-2004, considerable archeological heritage came to light, which is now part of the in situ presentation.
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| Some of the artifacts |
There was a small temporary exhibit of
fibulae, used by both men and women during the Roman era to fasten their garments as there were not buttons back then.
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| Beautiful fibulae from the Roman era |
We really enjoyed our visit to the City Museum-- interesting temporary exhibit and a very well-curated permanent exhibit outlining the city's fascinating history.
Rain had come and gone while we were in the Museum, and the sun had come out. We decided it was a good time to walk to the Ljubljana Castle.
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| Heading up the stairs-- it was not as steep as we thought and we were there in about 15 minutes |
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| View of older part of town on the way up to the Castle |
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The Alps from the Castle
There probably had been a settlement on this site since prehistoric times, although the first true fortress here was Roman. The 12th century version was added on to over the centuries, until it fell into disrepair in the 17th century. Extensive renovation works commenced in the late 1960s; lasting more than 35 years.
The grounds are free to visit, but one needs a ticket to see some of the exhibits. We decided we would just wander around as we got there after the ticket office had closed.
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| Part of the Castle |
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| Another view |
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| Clock tower that one sees from the city below |
A small penitentiary exhibit was open, recalling the post-Napoleonic era when the castle was converted to a prison. It saw the most action during WWI, when it housed political prisoners (including the beloved Slovenian writer Ivan Cankar) and POWS.
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