Ljubljana Now on the UNESCO List

Slovenia was the first country to be declared a “Green Destination of the World.” In all planning, it puts environmentalism and sustainability first. And this is not new! The nation’s most famous architect, born exactly 150 years ago, also adopted these same principles. Today his beautiful and walkable city planning has put Slovenia’s capital city of Ljubljana on UNESCO’s world heritage list.

Slovenian guide Mateja a guide with ToursByLocals since 2012, joins us today to share a bit more about her beautiful hometown, and some interesting details about the man who recently put its architecture on the map.

Ljubljana’s UNESCO-listed Architect: Jože Plečnik

Slovenia is one of the youngest European countries and its capital Ljubljana belongs to one of the most vibrant capitals. The country is not big, around the size of New Jersey, and has 2 million inhabitants only. The capital Ljubljana with its 300,000 people counts to a general traveler as quite a small city, however, because of its density and diversity (not to mention beauty), it should not be underestimated.Being on the crossroads for the main trade routes between Venice and Vienna on one side, and Istanbul, Salzburg and Munich on the other, the city already promises different influences. Everyone who visits Ljubljana has a feeling of being in one of these cities. And yet, there is an added value. There is something that makes the capital of Slovenia unique in the whole world: the masterpieces of the local architect Jože Plečnik! This uniqueness was finally recognized by UNESCO this year. Since July 2021, the urban planning so carefully created almost 100 years ago by Jože Plečnik is proudly included on the list of the world’s most important cultural treasures.

Who was Jože Plečnik?

Jože Plečnik was born in Ljubljana in 1872. After a not so successful school time in his hometown, he looked for more understanding in the much bigger city of Vienna. The Habsburg’s metropole motivated the young man to study hard and it was here that young Josef (Jože) realized that architecture will be literally the love of his life. For the rest of his life he lived for architecture only; he never married. At the end of the 19th Century, Josef became one of the best students at Otto Wagner Art Nouveau School and that gave him a chance to travel abroad as well. He was enormously impressed by Roman as well as Renaissance architecture in Rome, Florence, Venice, and you can notice this admiration in almost every piece of art that he made. After WWI – in the period of the newly established Monarchy of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, he was invited to come back to Ljubljana, to become the professor at the recently established Slovenian University. He stayed here until his death in January 1957.Jože was one of the most humble and ascetic men you could find in the first half of the 20th century in Ljubljana: living in a little house in Ljubljana’s suburb, the boatmen’s village of Trnovo - today a great off the beaten path area. Every morning he walked to his work, in fact, he never drove a car, and never even rode a bike. Just in case, if he needed to visit one of the places where his creations were made, he always traveled by train and a carriage. While walking, that is what he always noticed: how the place needs to be designed in order to be “human-being friendly” - just as we think now, a century later!

For his works, he always used a local material: “Use what you have, what is in the area around you, be creative!” Whenever planning, he always thought about the past, about the heritage, about the creations that need to be protected and yet, prepared for the future. When creating an architectural work, everything had to have a meaning, had to be useful, nothing was done “just because”. He was a very faithful, religious person, and you can notice that in almost every detail of his works.

Because of his beliefs, he was not so popular after WWII in the socialist times of Yugoslavia. If someone mentioned to him his uniqueness, he just answered: “I am just a pen in God’s hands”. He lived for 85 years, and worked until his last breath. In his study room in his home, which is now a museum, you can still see the last inch of his pencil. Nothing to be wasted. He never had much time for visitors. In the reception hall of his house, he intentionally made some drafts of air. “So that the visitor would express the intentions of his visit sooner and not waste his time too much”. Being his student was not easy, and yet, everyone wanted to be in his class.While discovering around Ljubljana, you simply cannot miss Jože Plečnik’s masterpieces: Three Bridges, Cobbler’s Bridge, Trnovo Bridge, Market Arcades, the Water Sluice Gate, Riverbanks, Churches, Cemetery…His entire life he dedicated to Ljubljana’s creation, and now, his works finally became recognised as UNESCO heritage. Yes, he was right when he said: “You are transient, only your works will remain.”

It is time to visit Ljubljana and to get familiar with his works, his thoughts as well as with ideas he left behind. Even today, Ljubljana’s architects are still following him. Come, have a look, how successful they are!

To experience Mateja’s private tour of Plečnik’s masterpieces, book her Day with UNESCO Heritage Architect tour. And if you’re not in the mood for a walking tour, this tour can be done by boat as well!