Roman Wall — Attraction in Upravna Enota Ljubljana

This is the location of the southern fortifications wall of Roman city Emona, nowadays Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia. In the 1920s the city authorities wanted to remove the ruins, but the most famous Slovenian arhitect Jože Plečnik the architect of this city quarter's renovation - and conservator France Stele - project initiator - managed to change their minds. The wall was renovated and changed a bit with the addition of a pyramid and columns at the south city gate. Emona was built between the years 35 bc and 14-15 ad when these fortifications were finished. To those uneducated the walls might seem not significant because the conditions of it not being destroyed were to lay it in the city plans in such a ways that it would not obstruct the traffic and city development and growth in any kind. So it is 'put' in this surrounding in most in kind of a 'hidden from a view' way... There are to gateways, the east one is exactly the original main south gateway of Emona and is decorated with columns added by Plečnik, they were not there originally. Between them is a pyramid, which is interesting, but a kind of a mistake of Plečnik, because pyramids were not really a Roman thing, but Plečnik liked them. The small park running along the walls was also planned by plečnik. It's quite nice, because in half of a minute you can hide away from the main streets and hot summer sun to a quite place, sit...

Perhaps the most impressive of all the Emona monuments is the former city wall, which can be found along Mirje just south of the city centre. Originally surrounding the town and featuring four main gates, at their most impressive the walls were 2.5m thick and reached heights of up to 8m. In a period of rapid urban expansion following the First World War, the city council made the decision to tear down the last remaining section of the wall so they could sell off the land for development and alleviate traffic congestion. However, thanks largely to the efforts of France Stelé, who was then head of the city's monuments office, there was a public outcry against the proposal, leading the council to reverse its decision and restore the wall. The design of the restoration works was awarded to the famed architect Jože Plečnik in 1926, and although his blending of modern and classical elements is now considered one of the Ljubljana's top attractions, at the time it proved quite controversial and the project was not completed until 1934. Explore the wall's passageways, pillars and pyramid on a sunny day and decide...

A part of old Emona, but we actually came for the Plecnik pyramid, as we were told, was later added on by Joze Plecnik. It has not the wow effect but it's a bit different to see these kind of things after the whole old part of the city. Would recommend if you're two days in Ljubljana to stroll down this part in the afternoon. It's quieter...