The trip to the European Balkans continues with the itinerary of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. At 16:30 Slovenian time on July 9, 2018, the team, led by the tour guide Shen Chenwei, walked along the road along the Ljubljana River, not far from another "Butcher Bridge" across the river . The name of the Butcher Bridge comes from a bronze statue of a butcher on the bridge. It is said that this bronze statue once faced a meat stall in the central market.
In the 1930s, the idea of building a bridge was born, and it was not realized until 2010. It was designed by a well-known Slovenian designer, and the bridge was decorated with sculptures created by well-known sculptors.
Since the Butcher Bridge was opened to pedestrians, couples have been hanging their love locks on the chains of the bridge. With the accumulation of time, the number of love locks has become more and more, and it has also become a beautiful scenery of the bridge, which has a beautiful decorative effect. Nowadays, many Slovenian couples come here especially, and lock their love on the bridge with their beloved ones, and put the key in the water, hoping that their love will last forever.
The reporter looked carefully at the countless love locks on the bridge, and found that there are all kinds of love locks. It seems that they are really from all over the world. Walking to the bridge head of the bridge, I found that there is also a statue in the style of a butcher statue, which is called Adam and Eve. The reporter believes that this also confirms the profound love theme contained in Butcher Bridge from one side.
Continuing to walk along the river is the Triple Bridge and Preseren Square. (Tromostovje) and Shoemaker's Bridge (Cevljarski most) are the oldest bridges across the Ljubljana River, built around the 13th century AD, and the white bridges are all restored in the 19th century. Due to the increasing traffic demand of the Triple Bridge, in order to reduce the pressure on the original bridge, in 1931, Joze Plenik, the super architect of Ljubljana, added two side bridges on both sides of the bridge, forming three bridges.
Here people can shuttle among them, or sit quietly in a corner, watching the life of local Slovenians. If you have time, be sure to come here at night to see the beautiful night view of the Triple Bridge. Near the bridge, you can see a bronze statue on the square, which is Preseren Square.
The circular Preseren Square is named after the great Slovenian poet Preseren, whose poems are used for the Slovenian national anthem. The bronze statue of the poet Preseren stands next to the square. On the head of the meditating poet is a goddess holding a laurel branch.
Walk along the street opposite the Triple Bridge to the end of the city square (Mestni Trg), which is the central square of Ljubljana. The Four Rivers Fountain in Piazza Navana in Rome. The three groups of statues on the base represent the three rivers of Slovenia, Sava, Krka and Ljubljana. The Town Hall (Magistrat) next to the square was built in 1718 and is a Renaissance-style building.
Looking up here, you can clearly see the architectural landscape of the castle on the Castle Hill in Ljubljana. The castle was built in the 11th century AD, when the castle was a wooden structure.
In the 15th century AD, the royal family of Hapus rebuilt the castle to resist the attack of the Turks. Gothic churches and paintings were added to the castle in the 17th and 18th centuries. From the beginning of the 19th century until 1945, the castle was used as a prison.
People can go up on foot, by car or by cable car. Ljubljana Castle is surrounded by a beautiful forest, which can be traversed by a path leading to the castle. The castle is still quite well maintained and it was once the seat of the Austrian Dukes of Carinthia.
The landscape in the castle includes: artesian well, medieval prison, Erasma tower, gun tower, hall, palace, cistern, St. George's Church, museum, sightseeing tower and pentagonal tower, etc. Standing on the sightseeing tower of the castle, you can overlook the panoramic view of Ljubljana. The night view is especially beautiful. Every year, various exhibitions and concerts, summer carnivals, Christmas and New Year fireworks are held in the castle. Due to time constraints, the team was unable to take a look inside the castle, but only overlooked the spectacular sight of its architectural scale.
The team's last stop in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, was to visit the famous St. Nicholas Cathedral. It is also known as "Ljubljana Cathedral", and the locals simply call it "Cathedral". The original site of the church was the first to have a Roman Catholic church in the 13th century. After being destroyed by a fire, it was rebuilt into a Gothic style. The church was established in the Ljubljana diocese in the 15th century. The church was upgraded to a cathedral. Later, the church was destroyed. At the beginning of the 18th century, it was rebuilt into a Baroque church.
The church was built in honor of Nicholas, a Catholic saint, and there are many churches dedicated to him all over the world. Nicholas was born in Turkey and later served as a bishop in Myra in ancient Greece. He was one of the important saints in the early days of Catholicism and the patron saint of sailors, merchants, construction and other industries. Now the custom of Santa Claus giving gifts mainly comes from the legend that Nicholas likes to give gifts custom.
This church has two doors. When visiting, enter the gate in the street, and when you finish the visit, the exit is another door on the street. The gate at the entrance of the church has a very exaggerated three-dimensional bronze sculpture, which is very distinctive; the bright spot on the big bronze gate is a woman's head, which is used as a door climber. When more people touch it, it will become brighter. After entering, I saw that the interior of the church is also magnificent, and the surrounding area, including the dome, is decorated in a brightly colored Baroque style, which is very gorgeous.
At 8:30 Slovenia time on July 10, 2018, the European Tour Balkan Peninsula tour team left the Greina Hotel in Slovenia to continue the journey. On the first day, we will go to Lake Bled, which is 80 kilometers away from Ljubljana, for sightseeing; after that, we will drive 250 kilometers to enter Graz, the second largest city in Austria, and finally drive 190 kilometers to the destination of the night: Vienna.
After an hour's drive in the morning, the team arrived at the scenic Lake Bled. It is located at the southern foot of the Alps in northwestern Slovenia. The melting water from the snow on the top of the "Three-Headed Mountain" is continuously poured into the lake, so it is called "Ice Lake". The entire lake was formed due to the geological movement of glaciers in the Alps.
Shen Chenwei said that Lake Bled is also the most famous lake in Slovenia. The area is 500-180 meters wide and the deepest part is 30 meters. Triglav National Park is nearby. The town of Bled on the Lake has historical sites. There is an ancient church of Santa Maria on the lake island. There is Bled Castle on the cliffs on the shore of the lake.
The water temperature here is around 22°C in summer, making it an ideal place for boating, swimming and fishing. It is snowy in winter, the climate is cold, and the lake is frozen up to 40 cm, so it is also a perfect place for ice sports. It has held many European and world water and ice sports competitions. Bled has long been a famous tourist destination, attracting more and more people to travel and vacation.
When you come to the shore, every ten people take a boat that is manually paddled for a boat trip. I saw the lake water rippling green, the dense forest beside the lake densely green, and a white building hidden among the trees. It was the building where Tito lived in before he came here.
It is said that if you look down on Lake Bled from the air, the mirror-like surface of the lake under the cliff and the snow-white reflection of the Alps in the lake constitute a dreamlike ice jade mirror, so people call Lake Bled "the eyes on the mountain". ". In 1004 AD, Henry II of Germany built a castle and a church in Bled. Its unique style of architecture complements the turquoise and immaculate lake, forming a perfect combination of cultural landscape and natural scenery.
First of all, take a boat to a small island 40 meters above the water surface in the center of the lake, climb up the 92 stone steps, and you can see a baroque church on the island that is still full of ancient mystery. before. This holy place where believers prayed in the past has now been turned into a church art museum. Legend has it that there were three big bells in the church bell tower. One of them sank to the bottom of the lake. Every night when the moon is white and the wind is clear, people standing by the lake can hear faint bells.
There is also a beautiful legend surrounding this church. According to legend, in the 16th century, a wealthy young couple came here from a foreign country to play, and settled here intoxicated by the lakes and mountains in the Bled area. They believed in Christianity, used their savings to repair the dilapidated church, and lived a happy and sweet life.
But soon after, in order to fight against the large-scale invasion of the Ottoman Turks, her husband was drafted into the army and embarked on the road of defending his family and country. However, the husband who had been away from home for many years did not give any news to the heartbroken beloved wife. Despite this, his wife firmly believes that he will fulfill his promise and will definitely return to the beautiful Lake Bled, and has been waiting silently and thinking hard.
Nine years later, the definite news that her husband had died in battle finally came. The heartbroken wife sold all her belongings, spent money to cast a big clock and donated it to the church on the island in the middle of the lake to express her grief and bless all those who, like her husband, are fighting for a "better life". But when the big bell was loaded onto the boat and transported from the lake to the island in the middle of the lake, a sudden strong wind blew up and the boat tilted, causing the big bell to sink to the bottom of the lake.
To this day, people can faintly hear the bells coming from the bottom of the lake. Of course, it is only a legend that the giant clock sank to the bottom of the lake, but the protagonist does exist. Later, the infatuated wife left the Lake Bled area and eventually died in Rome, Italy. Today, there is a big bell weighing 178 kilograms in the Huxin Church, which was donated to the Huxin Church by the then archbishop after the wife died. Because of that beautiful legend, young tourists, especially lovers, never forget to ring the bell and make a wish, praying for everlasting loyal love. (Photo: Feng Ganyong)