Learn about Šance at the Ljubljana Castle
The protected cultural heritage area of the Ljubljana Castle consists of the immediate environment of the castle fortifications with the bastion and the circular path, the moat and Lipnik, as well as the castle plateau, the area of the promenade and Šance. Architect Plečnik viewed the Ljubljana Castle not just as part of the city, but as the centre of all urban planning in Ljubljana. Šance are now being renovated and will bring back its old shine and glory.
At the end of the fifteenth century and in the sixteenth century, the provincial prince built the Padav Tower (in some sources referred to as the Vicedomski Tower) and the civic bastion at the most extreme point of the Ljubljana Castle’s defence system. In 1934, when only ruins bore witness to the former mighty fortress in this location, the renovation of Šance commenced according to the plans of Jože Plečnik (1872–1957), the most important Slovenian architect of the twentieth century.
Plečnik “loosened” the pile of ruins at Šance, which until then had been shrouded in mystery, much as he had done with the Emona Wall in Mirje. He added new axes and pierced the ruins with new arcades and openings, thus opening up interesting new views of the city below the Castle Hill. In his special and bold manner, Plečnik designed a monument to history and restored the medieval function of patrol walls to the mass of ruins.
In 2017, when we celebrated the 60th anniversary of Plečnik’s death and the 145th anniversary of his birth, we published a brochure by Irene Vesel, the conservator from the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Slovenia who is responsible for the Ljubljana Castle. The brochure presents a short history of Šance and the course of the renovation of Plečnik’s only major realised work on the Castle Hill.
Ljubljana Castle and the City of Ljubljana together with The Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia have now finished the work which originally started in 1999 with further adaptations in 2012 and 2014.
Now the whole area of Šance will be opened to the public and another masterpiece of architect Plečnik will be accessible to visitors of Ljubljana and Ljubljana Castle.
To read more about Šance and Ljubljana Castle visit Ljubljana Castle website.
