Tivoli Park is a city park that will capture your attention on the first encounter! Tivoli is the largest park in Ljubljana, and one of the most beautiful at the same time. It is the work of the French engineer Jean Blanchard. It was created in 1813 by merging the parks that were a part of Podturn and Cekin castles. Stunning greenery that spreads over 5 square kilometres provides an incredible atmosphere. It is adorned with large and numerous trees, beautiful fragrant flowers in all colors, walking paths, castles, statues and beautiful stone fountains. The park is home to rare and endangered animal species, especially birds.
Three-quarters of the park is covered with forest. You can see a lot of types of trees, most of them are beech, fir and noble deciduous trees. The trees in the park have been there since 1894 thanks to the city municipality. They were taken care of by the Czech gardener Vaclav Hejnic, he was the first professional gardener in Tivoli, and he arranged the park in the 1920s. The area of the park merges with the slopes of Rožnik hill. There is also an open-air gallery in the central part of Tivoli Park - the picturesque promenade of Jakopič Park, designed by the architect Jože Plečnik. This part has become a famous place for large format photo exhibitions. Plečnik designed the promenade, a visual axis that leads through the park to Tivoli Castle across Cankareva Street and Čop Street to Prešeren Square, across Tromostovje and ends in Ljubljana Castle.
You will also find a greenhouse with tropical plants in the park. The Botanical Garden of Ljubljana is in charge of the greenhouse next to which a beautiful garden with roses is located. There are over 160 species of roses in it.
Another part that adorns the park is a pond, excavated in 1880. It is in the shape of a rectangle and has a small volume, and it was renovated in 2011. It houses a bronze statue "Fish" which was placed in 1994, and is the work of sculptor Franc Kralj. The statue itself was made in 1935.
What is interesting is that there is also an open-air library next to the pond that only works when the weather is sunny and nice, as well as a book recycling workshop. The library moves to the greenhouse during the winter. Some important buildings are also part of the park, such as Tivoli Castle, Cekin Castle, Tivoli Hall, works of art, children's playground.
Tivoli is one of the most important and most visited city tourist attractions due to the peace, fresh air, cultural attractions and the perfect blend of nature in one place.
Author of the article:
Bojana Pantić - our correspondent for the city of Ljubljana
Photo credit: Janez Zalaznik
