Levstikov Square, Ljubljana

Unlike some other "squares" in the old town, Levstikov Trg is a real square. Although it is located close to very lively streets like Stari Trg or Cankarjevo Nabrezje, it is not that frequented. Levstikov Trg is famous for a Hercules Fountain standing in the middle of it. It seems that the fountain was covered when I was in Ljubljana (April 2006) - perhaps due to reconstruction works, but perhaps also to prevent the fountain from damage of the hard winter weather. However, the fountain is just a replica. The original is now located in the city hall.

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St. James' Church is located at the southeastern part of Levstikov Square. It was built between 1613 and 1615 on the place of a former, gothic, church. At first, it had two belltowers, but after the earthquake of 1895, the church was partly destroyed. It was reconstructed with a single belltower only.

Inside of the church, you will find some interesting artworks, including an altar by Francesco Robba.

Next to the church, there is a small quare which was the site of a former jesuite college. There, you will find St. Mary's column with a statue of the virgin on top of it. The square was redesigned by Joze Plecnik in 1927.

The centre of Levstikov Square is the Hercules Fountain, a copy of a 17th century statue standing in the town hall. On the Southeast side is the church of St.James which you can visit from 7am-12.30pm and 3pm-8pm.

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St James Church was built by Jesuits between 1613 and 1615 on the site next to the former Jesuit monastery (Ljubljana's first college of theology, philosophy, medicine and music), which was previously occupied by an old Gothic church. The Jesuits' early Baroque hall church was thoroughly rebuilt around 1701. Its new altar and statues were sculpted between 1728 and 1732 by Francesco Robba, who lived in the vicinity of the church. After the earthquake of 1895, the church's two belfries had to be pulled down and a single new belfry (the highest in Ljubljana) was built in their place. The octangular Chapel of St. Francis Xavier, modelled on Venetian architecture and extravagantly decorated with ornate plasterwork, was added to the church between 1667 and 1670. The chapel boasts a famous altar built between 1709 and 1720, which is adorned with Paolo Groppelli's statues of archangels and Jacopo Contieri's statues of Europe and Africa.

This square beside St James' Church was built on the site of the Jesuit college which burnt down. The column, topped with a statue by the Salzburg-based artist Wolf Weisskirchner, was erected in 1682 in thanksgiving for the fact that the Slovenian lands had been spared from the Turkish rule. The column was moved to its present position by architect Jože Pleènik, who redesigned the square in 1927.

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In the centre of Levstikov trg, which lies just south of Stari trg, is the Hercules Fountain. The actual statue you see today is a copy of the original 17th century statue which know resides in the Town Hall.

Another square named after famous slovenian, this time after the writer Fran Levstik, and again it was created by Joze Plecnik in first half of the last century. It was built on the remains of previous square which had been destroyed in fire in 18th century.

The southernmost point of the touristy old town is this square, redesigned by Plecnik in 1927. Some old buildings were left, as, for instance, Gruber palace, a Baroque construction from the end of the 18th century.

More than designing the new square, Plecnik introduced some modifications in most elements in this area. For instance, he replaced the column holding the Virgin's statue cast in 1682, by a new one, moving a fountain to another place in the gardened area.