City Museum of Ljubljana is located in the Auersperg Palace (Turjaška palača) in the centre of Ljubljana. It is dedicated to the history of Ljubljana and its residents. Exhibitions are displayed here for more than 70 years.
Auersperg Palace
This palace is a significant part of Ljubljana`s cultural heritage.
The Palace was built in 1654 by the Counts of Auersperg. This family was one of the noble families in the city. They spend most of the time here, but they spend summers on the Turjak castle. They even got a visit from the Austrian Emperor Joseph II, another sign of their importance and good reputation.
They barraged a new courtyard and built a stone fountain in the middle of it. Linden three was situated next to it.
The palace was renovated in 1824, when Francesco Cocconi added some Baroque charm to it. Just 70 years later in 1895, it was almost completely destroyed by the earthquake. It was later rebuilt and from 1935 it is home to the City museum of Ljubljana.
City Museum of Ljubljana
Exhibitions from the 1937 for visitors are open. Many different exhibitions found home here, and many different changes are going on every year. In the last five years, new excavations under the Auersperg Palace revealed some remains from the Roman era.
The City Museum of Ljubljana spreads on more than 1,000 m2, including a basement with archaeological discoveries from different ancient times. A part from that one permanent exhibition can be seen in the museum: The Faces of Ljubljana, which reflects the city’s versatility through many rounded thematic units.
Interactive and thematic diverse temporary exhibitions are frequently hosted here. Many interesting activities await younger visitors.
Highlights
It is hard to point the most interesting piece in a more than 200,000 piece collection, but there are two special findings worth mentioning: the world’s oldest wooden wheel with a wooden axle and around 40.000 years old wooden point.
Museum Shop
The shop is located in the City Museum of Ljubljana, offering ancient jewelry and replicas from all the historical eras, books for children, literature about Ljubljana and beautiful souvenirs which represent Ljubljana and Slovenia, to name just a few.
Auersperg Palace (Turjaška palača) is located in the center of Ljubljana, next to the Križanke (Križanke Outdoor Theatre), on the Francoska revolucija (French Revolution) square. By foot: Take a walk from the Prešernov square along Ljubljanica river for about 700 meters and then turn on the Salendrova street. Then turn left on the Gosposka street and you will see the Ljubljana City Museum on the left.