Ljubljana

Ljubljana with its 300.000 inhabitants counts as a smaller European city, but it is visited by a large number of tourists and business people every year. Even more, stars and important persons from culture, sports and politics visit Ljubljana each year, most recently the British queen Elisabeth II.
Ljubljana is also an important traffic route crossing, with an international airport at its borders. Different events have marked its history, in the 2nd World War, it was surrounded by a barb wire fence and turned into a concentration camp. Because of its proud and courageous inhabitants, it was called the Hero City.
Earthquakes were also important in Ljubljana's history, after the earthquake in 1511, the whole city was rebuild in the Renaissance style , and again after 1895, the city was again rebuild in the Neoclassicist and more important in Secession style.
You can see marks of the great architect Joze Plecnik in most buildings build in the time between the both World Wars, and Plecnik more or less changed the city from the ground. Its heritage is protected by law and admired by tourists and experts.
You can visit Ljubljana in every time of the year, but most tourists would say that you should visit it in December, with its decorations, and when the castle hill is glowing in the hundreds of lights. A special gift awaits the tourists, giant wrapped boxes, that are wells in the summer.
Slovenia is one of the most safe countries in the world, and Ljubljana has a great number of modern congress centers and high standard hotels, so Ljubljana became an often used congress destination.

The ancient town Emona was build where today's Ljubljana lays by the Roman in 14 AD. It was build on the plain, so called the doors of Ljubljana. They used the natural passageway between the Castle hill and the Siska hill. This passageway is a part of an important trade route, connecting the North Europe with the Mediterranean sea.

Emona layout was a rectangular and measured 523 x 435 meters (572 x 475 yards) sourrounded by walls. The town was divided by five or seven perpendicular roads, called cardines and decumani. Underneath were the kloaka's, sewage canals, leading to the Ljubljanica river. The walls were consolidated with defence towers and trenches. The city degraded around year 600, when the Slavs started to populate the area and started to build their own colony, that became the Medieval Ljubljana.

Krizanke were build by the German Knights, that are called "krizniki" in Slovenia. The order of the Knights was established in the time of the Crusades and was one of the orders, that connected the Knighthood with the priesthood. They devoted themselves to help the sick and protect the pilgrims, but have also pledged to fight the infidels. They came into Ljubljana at around 1228. The Duke of Carinthia, Ulrich 3rd build the house for them, where you can see the today's Krizanke. It was called "Domus B. V. Mariae Gloriosae" or the home of the glorious Virgin Mary. They have taken care of the poor, helped with the education of people and with the defence of the country. They also helped to spread worship of Mary. It is also written that they had a school in 1337 and they established a leper hospital (it was mentioned already in 1280), and an orphanage.

The church can still be seen in Kri%u017Eanke and was rebuild in 1714 in the Greece style. The complex was used by monks. In 1952 the town asked the architect Joze Plecnik to rebuild it, modelling the Italian architects. Krizanke were rebuild into a place that hosts cultural events.