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MAGIC LJUBLJANA
by
ALOHA DEAN
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"Magic" is the perfect word to describe Ljubljana, the most beautiful city I have ever seen: the surroundings, nature combined with castles, houses, museums, sculptures and best of all, people. This is the city I was born and city I want to grow old. Ljubljana is the capital and largest city in Slovenia. The city of Ljubljana is the cultural, scientific, economic, political and administrative center of Slovenia. It is situated in central Slovenia, between the Alps and the Mediterranean. Its transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific and research institutions and industrial tradition underlie its leading economic position. Ljubljana is the seat of the central government, administrative bodies and all government ministries. It is also the seat of Parliament and the Office of the President of Slovenia Historians disagree as to where the name Ljubljana comes from. The name could have evolved from the Latin term for a flooding river, alluviana. Some also believe the source of the present-day name is Laburus, an old Slavic mythology deity and supposed patron of the original settlement. Other linguists reconstruct an earlier *Lablana, rejecting both a Latin or Slavic source, but without settling on an etymology. Laibach, the German name for the city, may derive from Laubach (a lukewarm beck in German). The Italian name is Lubiana. These are important for historical reasons. The German name was forbidden in Slovenia after 1918 and became especially controversial during the Second World War. Nowadays most Germans use the term Ljubljana. On the other hand, Laibach is still widely used especially in Austria, as well as by the German embassy in Ljubljana. Although the Roman settlement Emona (Colonia Emona (Aemona) Iulia tribu Claudia) was erected in 15 AD, the first records mentioning Ljubljana by its modern name date to 1144 (by its German name Laibach) and 1146 (by the name Luwigana). The settlement received town rights in 1220, and in 1335 came under Austrian Habsburg rule, lasting until 1918. During this time Ljubljana was the capital of the duchy of Carniola. Ljubljana also became the seat of a diocese in 1461 and developed into a Slovenian cultural centre during the late Middle Ages. Ljubljana experienced an earthquake in 1511. The Habsburg rule was shortly interrupted by the Napoleonic wars, and between 1809 and 1813 Ljubljana was the capital of the French Illyrian provinces. In 1821 the city hosted the Congress of Laibach. Once again an earthquake damaged large parts of the city in 1895 and the following reconstruction gave Ljubljana its new contemporary image. With the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, Ljubljana became the provincial seat of the Drava Banovina within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In April 1941 it was occupied by Italy and on February 23, 1942 Italians completely encircled it with 32 km of barbed wire. For the achievements during this time Josip Broz Tito awarded Ljubljana in 1955 with the title "Hero City" (not to be confused with the Soviet title of the same name). After World War II it became the capital of the Yugoslav socialist republic of Slovenia. Ljubljana remained the capital city when Slovenia gained independence in 1991 after a ten day war against the Yugoslav National Army. |
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