France Prešeren and the poets: the back story

About France Prešeren and the poets: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Ljubljana Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Few nations honour a poet as Slovenia honours France Prešeren (1800–1849). His statue fills the main square, his face is on the €2 coin, and the day of his death, 8 February, is a national cultural holiday.

The poet

Prešeren wrote love poems, sonnets and the epic Baptism on the Savica, and he showed that Slovenian could be a language of great literature.

Julija

His unrequited love for Julija Primic inspired many of his finest poems. On Prešeren Square his statue looks across to a bust of her set into a building on Wolfova street.

In Ljubljana, the main square belongs to a poet.

The anthem

The seventh stanza of his poem Zdravljica, “A Toast”, is Slovenia’s national anthem, a hope for a time when all nations live in friendship.

A literary city

Ljubljana was a UNESCO World Book Capital in 2010 and is a UNESCO City of Literature. The National and University Library, bookshops such as Konzorcij and Beletrina, and the poet Oton Župančič and writer Ivan Cankar keep the tradition alive.

Our advice: find Julija on Wolfova street, visit Prešeren’s birthplace at Vrba on the way to Bled, and look out for 8 February, when museums and galleries open their doors for Prešeren Day.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with France Prešeren and the poets: the back story before you go.