Ljubljana, Slovenia

Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, sits on the Ljubljanica River with a population of about 295,000. The city began as the Roman settlement of Emona in 14 AD, and an 11th-century castle overlooks the Old Town from a 366 m hill, reached by a funicular that opened in 2006. Between the world wars, the architect Jože Plečnik reshaped the center with works like the Triple Bridge of 1932, the Central Market colonnades, and the rounded Cobbler's Bridge. His urban design spans more than 1,500 heritage sites and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021. What remains inside those castle walls adds another chapter to the story.