LJUBLJANA

German Laibach, Italian Lubiana, capital city and economic, political, and cultural centre of Slovenia, on the Ljubljanica River. The city lies in a natural depression surrounded by high peaks of the northern Dinaric Alps. Heavy fogs are frequent. The Roman city of Emona (1st century BC) was located there. A strategic city on the route to Pannonia, commanding the Ljubljana Gap, it was destroyed by barbarians about the 5th century AD. After the Slavs rebuilt it as Luvigana, it was damaged by Magyars in the 10th century. In the 12th century the city passed to the dukes of Carniola. In 1270 it was taken by Otakar II of Bohemia, and in 1277 it came under the Habsburgs as Laibach. From 1461, Ljubljana was the seat of a bishop. Taken by the French in 1809, it became the government seat of the Illyrian Provinces until 1813. In 1821 the Congress of Laibach, a meeting of members of the Holy Alliance, was held there. The building of the southern railway from Vienna in 1849 stimulated development of Ljubljana, which became a centre of Slovene nationalism under Austrian rule. Foreign rule ended in 1918, when it became part of Yugoslavia. It remained the Slovenian capital after Slovenia's independence in 1992. Ljubljana is dominated by a medieval fortress. The old quarter of the city lies between the fortress and the river. Only a few old buildings of Austrian Baroque style survived the violent earthquake of 1895. In the newer part of the city is the large Tivoli Park. Most buildings of historic interest date from the 18th century. Ljubljana has a museum, an art gallery, an opera house, the University of Ljubljana (founded in 1595), a Faculty of Theology (1919), art academies, the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts, and a metallurgical institute. Ljubljana is an important centre of rail and road communications to Austria. Manufactures include turbines for hydroelectric stations, as well as natural and synthetic textiles, alumina, paper and newsprint, footwear, leather, electrical consumer goods, chemicals, and soap. Pop. (1992 est.) 276,153.