This town is so quiet that we had a sleep-in this morning – not a car, a church bell, a slamming door to be heard. Nothing much is open in Ljubljana on Sundays. We were finally out and about, back across the Dragon Bridge to the funicular for the 70m ride up to Ljubljana castle. The castle dates back to Celtic times, although most of what you see now has been rebuilt since the 1511 earthquake. Since then it has been a fort, a royal residence, military barracks and a prison, and is now a museum and venue for concerts and other functions. It provides views over all of the old town and much of the environs extending beyond. It has some old cannons, a watchtower (which we climbed!) and the Chapel of St George (who, according to one of several legends, slew the dragon that inhabited the marshes around Ljubljana), which has survived since 1489. An interesting fact is that evidence of the very earliest wheel on an axle, dating back to about 3,200BC, was found in the Ljubljana marsh.
After lunch a visit to the Ethnological Museum for two thought-provoking exhibitions: “I, we and others – images of our world”, which discussed, in words, picture and sounds, the relationship between individuals, families, communities, nations and the world. The second was “Between nature and culture”, which examined various non-European cultures and lifestyles – the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania. Then we took off in the opposite direction, back across town, to locate the remains of the Roman settlement in the first few centuries AD (or CE), then known as Emona. We saw an archaeological site showing the remains of houses, with their wells, underground heating and sewerage systems, as well as remnants of the old Roman town, extending for a couple of hundred metres. Then a final walk through the old town and back “home” for dinner and an early night.
Tomorrow: on the train for an 8 hour trip to Ravenna, north-eastern Italy.
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