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On the western side of the river, the broad slash of Slovenska cesta forms the commercial heart of Ljubljana. Dominated by nineteenth- and twentieth-century shops and offices, it's a place to do business rather than sightsee - save perhaps for its only real landmark, Neboticnik : a gaudily painted twelve-storey response to the American Art Deco skyscrapers of the 1930s. Continuing south along Slovenska cesta, the park-like expanse of Kongresni trg slopes away from the early-eighteenth-century Ursuline Church (Ursulinska Cerkev), whose looming Baroque coffee-cake exterior is one of the city's most imposing: should you manage to gain entry there's another florid high altar by Robba. Lower down, by the side of the main university building, Vegova Ulica leads southwards from Kongresni trg towards Trg francoske revolucije, passing on the way the chequered pink, green and grey brickwork of the University Library. This was designed in the late 1930s by Joze Plecnik (1872-1957), the architect who more than any other determined the appearance of present-day Ljubljana. The whole atmosphere around the River Ljubljanica, including the riverbanks and several bridges, is the result of rebuilding work by Plecnik. His legacy, in the shape of Neoclassical columns, pillars and miniature brick pyramids scattered all over the city, is impossible to avoid. One such oddity is the Illyrian Monument on Trg francoske revolucije, erected in 1930 in belated recognition of Napoleon's short-lived attempt to create a fiefdom of the same name centred on Ljubljana. Virtually next door is the seventeenth-century monastery complex of Krizanke : originally the seat of a thirteenth-century order of Teutonic Knights, its delightful colonnaded courtyard was restored by Plecnik to form a permanent venue for the Ljubljana Summer Festival . Across Gosposka, at no. 15, the seventeenth-century Turjak Palace contains the Municipal Museum , which is currently closed while it undergoes a major transformation (due to open in 2003). In the meantime pop over to the Cultural Information Centre, 50 metres away, where you can view a small exhibition illustrating the extensive work in progress. Beyond Trg francoske revolucije there's little of importance to see, except for a remaining stretch of the town's Roman Walls (again rearranged by Pleznik) on Mirje, and, a little further on, Pleznik's old house - now an Architectural Museum (Tues & Thurs 10am-2pm; 600SIT) at Karunova 4, where you can wander around Plecnik's ascetic living quarters.
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