The area around Ljubljana has plenty of evidence that people have lived here pretty much since the beginning. Legend has it that Jason, of Jason and the Argonauts founded the city and slayed a dragon while he was here, which accounts for the dragon symbol of the city. Or maybe St. George killed it. You’ll hear both versions.
In any case, there were people here as far back as the Neolithic Age. In the area around Ljubljana, archeologists have found what they believe to be the world’s oldest musical instrument (a flute made from a cave bear’s femur, 60,000 years old) and the oldest found wheel. (5,200 years old) Both can be found in the museums here. The people lived in the marshes in stilt houses and traveled in dugout canoes. Eventually the area was taken over by the Romans, and there are still remainders of the ancient city of Emona, including a Christian church. After that, it was settled by Slavs, who are the ancestors of today’s Slovenes.
In 1335, the Habsburgs renamed the city to Laibach and absorbed it into its empire, where it remained for more than 600 years. Most of the inhabitants spoke German and it had a strong Austrian culture, which remains to this day. For just four years, Napolean conquered the area and made Ljubljana the capital of the Slovak region of his empire. He reintroduced the Slovenian language and heritage, and there is still a square in Ljubljana today that commemorates the time Napolean was in power here.
Ljubljana boomed when a railroad was built through the city connecting it to Vienna in the mid 1800’s. In 1895, Ljubljana suffered an earthquake, whose damage was exaggerated by the locals in order to get the Habsburg emperor, Franz Josef, to fund rebuilding projects. It was during this time that Ljubljana got its distinctive architectural style, thanks to the architect Joze Plecnik, who combined classical styling with Art Nouveau and gave the city a unique, playful and very liveable vibe.
WWI was brutal for the Slovenians, due to fierce fighting along the Italian border. Ernest Hemingway was an ambulance driver in those battles and recounted the drama in his novel A Farewell to Arms. After the end of the war and the fall of the Habsburg empire, Slovenia joined to create the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, an unstable union that eventually became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ended during WWII, fracturing the region. In Slovenia, a strong Liberation Front was born, proud of its Slovene language and heritage. However, in 1945, Tito proclaimed the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia, led by the Communists. Tito had a falling out with the Soviets and fashioned his own style of socialism, which brought a higher standard of living, especially to the Slovenian part of Yugoslavia, but in 1980, at Tito’s death, relations with the rest of Yugoslavia became tense. In 1990, the Slovene delegation walked out of the Yugoslav League of Communists and on June 25, 1991, Slovenia declared independence. This triggered the 10 Day War, a minor event that caused the Yugoslavian army to withdraw. Slovenia was recognized by the EU in 1992, joined both NATO and the EU in 2004, and adopted the Euro in 2007.
Today, Slovenia is economically stable with a high standard of living and a very low crime rate. The country is working to promote tourism, and with its beauty and accessibility, it is only a matter of time until it is a popular tourist destination.