National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia

The National Gallery of Slovenia was founded in 1918, after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary and the establishment of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. Initially, it was hosted in the Kresija Palace of Ljubljana, but moved to the present location in 1925.

The gallery hosts a permanent art collection from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century. The original of the Baroque Robba fountain can also be seen in the central glass gallery of the building.

The present building was built in 1896, during the administration of Mayor Ivan Hribar, whose ambition was to transform Ljubljana into a representative capital of all the Slovene Lands. It was designed by the Czech architect František Škabrout and was first used as a Slovenian cultural center as the central seat of various cultural associations of national importance. The building stands near Tivoli Park and was completely renovated in 2013-2016.

In the early 1990s, an extension to the main building was built by the Slovene architect Edvard Ravnikar. In 2001, a large transparent glass gallery, designed by the architects Jurij Sadar and Boštjan Vuga, was built to connect the two wings of the building.

The gallery hosts a permanent art collection from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century. The original of the Baroque Robba fountain can also be seen in the central glass gallery of the building, where it was moved after extensive restoration in 2008.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Maegan McCoy (7 months ago)
Art appreciation is one of the easiest ways to enrich your life! Gorgeous Gallery in the heart of Ljubljana, what a perfect way to spend a rainy, fall afternoon. Ticket price was €8 for adults. English-speaking staff

Pero (8 months ago)
Nice paintings and very clean

Andraž Sodja (9 months ago)
The top national art gallery of Slovenia, featuring the most recognizable national artists and their work.

Flavia Alves (9 months ago)
Beautiful building! They had a variety of different styles and definitely enjoyed our visit! They had a good system implemented to keep all visitors safe during these times

UrosM (15 months ago)
Kids can even have birthdays there, and everything is taken care of in a dedicated kids place and two animators. You just pay a fee and leave them there for 2 hours. They even organise a very good birthday cake in the price if you want. So you really don't have any work. The animators are skilled to deal with kids and also in art. The kids go see art and are tought about art as well, in a funny way of course. So overall a very special birthday party, worth more than it`s price would suggest.

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Construction on the present building was begun in the 17th century by the architect Domenico Fontana. Intended to house the King Philip III of Spain on a visit never fulfilled to this part of his kingdom, instead it initially housed the Viceroy Fernando Ruiz de Castro, count of Lemos. By 1616, the facade had been completed, and by 1620, the interior was frescoed by Battistello Caracciolo, Giovanni Balducci, and Belisario Corenzio. The decoration of the Royal Chapel of Assumption was not completed until 1644 by Antonio Picchiatti.

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In 1922, it was decided to transfer here the contents of the National Library. The transfer of library collections was made by 1925.

The library suffered from bombing during World War II and the subsequent military occupation of the building caused serious damage. Today, the palace and adjacent grounds house the famous Teatro San Carlo, the smaller Teatrino di Corte (recently restored), the Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III, a museum, and offices, including those of the regional tourist board.

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