Two thousand years ago, a Roman city called Emona stood on the site of the present-day Ljubljana. In 2014 and 2015, Ljubljana celebrated the 2000th anniversary of the Roman city’s foundation.
Roman town walls in Mirje (walking distance from Urban hotel 11 minutes): according to an inscription found next to the eastern town gate of Emona, on the site of the present Trg francoske revolucije square, the Roman town walls were built between 14 and 15 AD. The rectangular-shaped walls surrounding the town centre measured 2.4 metres wide and from 6 to 8 metres high. They included at least 26 towers and four main gates. The towers were erected at equal distances along the length of the walls and next to the town’s side gates as extensions of Emona’s roads. On all sides except the east, which was naturally protected by a slope descending towards the Ljubljanica river, the town was additionally protected by a double moat.
Early christian centre arhaelogical park (walking distance from Urban hotel 11 minutes): occupied one of the Roman Emona’s building plots, which usually measured from 3,000 to 3,600 square metres and were demarcated by four roads. The Centre was located in the vicinity of the Forum and the western town wall, the remains of which have been preserved in the Erjavčeva cesta road across the way from the Cankarjev dom cultural and congress centre. Like most of the buildings in Emona, the Early Christian Centre, referred to by archaeologists as Insula No. 32, was originally a private dwelling, later converted into a public complex. The remains of its foundations and original paving date from the 1st century AD, the time when Emona was first built. The earliest extensive renovation took place at the beginning of the 4th century AD. Renovated paving and newly built pools indicate that the building was turned into public baths.
Emona house archaelogical park (walking distance from Urban hotel 14 minutes): named after the famous Slovenian Impressionist painter Rihard Jakopič, whose studio overlooked the garden, is the site of the remains of a terraced Roman house built in the 1st century AD as part of a larger building complex.
Jakopič Gallery (walking distance from Urban hotel 9 minutes): hosts exhibitions of contemporary art and design by Slovenian and international artists. The programme of exhibitions focuses on the role of contemporary art in its local environment. Exhibitions, each lasting for about two months, are accompanied by a programme of events aimed arousing the audiences’ interest in learning about contemporary art.
iEmona (walking distance from Urban hotel 11 minutes): located in the Chopinov underpass in the Kongresni square, is an original museum presentation and an information point about the legacy of the Roman city of Emona, which occupied part of the area of the present Ljubljana city centre.
More: https://www.visitljubljana.com/en/visitors/poigroup/art-and-culture/roman-ljubljana/
