14th World Saxophone Congress 2006 - Ljubljana

Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, lies where the East and the West meet; at the foothills of the Alps, only a stone's throw from the Adriatic coast, and at the outermost edges of the Pannonian Plain. Ljubljana is big enough for one to get lost within its metropolitan pulse yet has preserved its small-town friendliness. With 300,000 inhabitants it is a medium-sized European city, but offers all the wealth of a capital. Ljubljana is the political heart of Slovenia that in 2004 became member of the European Union. It is an important European commercial, business, fair and convention centre as well as the transport, science and education centre of Slovenia.

Ljubljana is a city of culture. It is home to numerous theatres, museums and galleries, and boasts one of the oldest philharmonic orchestras in the world. The first music society in Slovenia, the Academia philharmonicorum, was founded in 1701. It was a vehicle for baroque music and also facilitated the development of musical production in this region. Its honorary members included such renowned composers as Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms, and distinguished musicians such as the violinist Nicolo Paganini. Between 1881 and 1882, at the very start of his career, Gustav Mahler was its resident conductor. For the people of Ljubljana culture is a way of living and thinking and is very much a part of everyday life. Over 10,000 cultural events take place in the city every year, among which there are 10 international festivals.

In Ljubljana the old meets the new; and it seems that history has spent all of the settlement's five millennia preparing it to become the nation's capital. It has managed to retain traces from all periods of its rich history; from the legacy of Roman Emona; through to the Renaissance, Baroque and Art Nouveau periods characterised in the house fronts and ornate doorways of the city centre, the romantic bridges adorning the Ljubljanica river, the lopsided rooftops and a park reaching deep into the city centre. Here eastern and western cultures met; and the Italian concept of art combined with the sculptural aesthetics of Central European cathedrals.

The city owes its present appearance partly to Italian baroque and partly to Art Nouveau, which is the style of the numerous buildings erected immediately after the earthquake of 1895. In the first half of the 20th century, modern Ljubljana was shaped by the strong personal style of Joze Plecnik, a great European architect and a local of Ljubljana. The cityscape was complemented by his modernist followers as well as by creations of the "New Wave" of acknowledged young architects. All the different facets of Ljubljana blend harmoniously into a single image.

Visitors are particularly charmed by the castle, perched on the top of a hill above Ljubljana and overlooking the picturesque old houses squeezed against the slope beneath it and facing the newer buildings on the other side of the river. The numerous bridges, amongst which the triplet Tromostovje (The Three Bridges) is particularly notable, will soon tempt you to ramble around the old streets with their small shops and inns where, in summer, you can enjoy dining in the open-air. You will be able to appreciate the pulse of the Old Town, the popular meeting place and promenade, which becomes especially lively in the evening. You might be absorbed by its flow - the citizens of Ljubljana are known for their hospitality!

If you intend to do some sightseeing in Ljubljana, then check some information about Ljubljana Card or guided tours.