Tivoli Castle with the fountain Deček z ribo (Boy with a Fish), a 1989 reconstruction of a Baroque fountain from 1870. The castle is guarded by four cast-iron dogs, designed by an unknown sculptor in a Moravian foundry.
Tivoli Castle is a mansion and is the terminus of the Jakopič Promenade. Built in the 17th century atop the ruins of a previous Renaissance-period castle, the mansion was initially owned by the Jesuits. In the middle of the 19th century, it was renovated by Marshal Joseph Radetzky (1766–1858) in the Neoclassical style, giving it its present appearance. In 1864, Austrian sculptors in a Moravian foundry designed four cast-iron dogs that stand in front of the castle. In some older books they were attributed to the sculptor Anton Dominik Fernkorn (1813–1878).[4] Because the dogs do not have tongues, it has been falsely rumoured that the sculptor Fernkorn committed suicide by shooting himself due to this mistake.[5] An alpine-style building called the Švicarija ("Swissery", formerly the Hotel Tivoli) stands behind the mansion. It was completely restored in recent years and has now been transformed into a cultural centre. The Jesenko nature trail leads past it.
Cekin Mansion is a mansion on the northern edge of Tivoli Park. It houses the Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia (Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije).[6] The mansion was built in 1720, commissioned by Leopold Lamberg and based on plans by the Viennese Baroque architect Fischer von Erlach.[6] Since 1951, it has housed the national museum of contemporary history.[6]
Tivoli Hall is a complex of two multipurpose indoor sport arenas next to the Cekin Mansion. The complex, based on plans by the architect Marjan Božič and the engineer Stanko Bloudek, was opened in 1965. The larger ice hockey arena has a seating capacity of 7,000 people.[7] When configured to host basketball games, the capacity is adjusted to 6,000. The smaller basketball hall has a seating capacity of 4,500 people. This hall hosted home games of the professional basketball team KK Union Olimpija until 2011, while the larger one is the home of HDD Olimpija Ljubljana professional ice hockey club.
Tivoli Pond in late spring. View towards the north, with Rožnik Hill in the background.
At the southeastern end of Tivoli Park is located Tivoli Pond (Slovene: Tivolski ribnik). The pond is shaped like a rectangle and is shallow with a small volume.[8] In 2011, it was thoroughly renovated. It has been used for recreation, fishing, and as a flood-control reservoir.[9][10][11] It has served as a theme of visual artists and musicians.[12][13][14] There is a small stone plastic named Ribe ("Fish") in the pond. It is a depiction of two vertically standing fish, created in 1935 by the expressionist sculptor France Kralj and erected in 1994.[15] On a lawn beside the pond, an open-air library operates in warm weather and a workshop on recycling books and other printed matter, called "The Read Ones."[16][17] During winter, the library moves into the nearby greenhouse.[18]
Greenhouse and rose garden
A greenhouse with tropical plants, operated by the Ljubljana Botanical Gardens, stands near the northwestern end of the pond.[11][19] Next to the greenhouse, there is a rose garden. It was created from 1993 to 1994 and renovated in 2007.[20] Over 160 types of roses, including the first Slovenian cultivar, "Prešeren", were added in 2010.[21] All of them have been designated with a plate.[20]
Playground
From February 1941 to July 1943,[22] during the Italian annexation of Ljubljana, the park near the pond was arranged based on plans by the architect Boris Kobe. He put a playground inside a circular design connected to the pond as the central landscape feature.[23] The playground, named Paradiso dei bambini (Children's Paradise),[24] was completed with the financial help of Emilio Grazioli, the first High Commissioner of the Province of Ljubljana.[22] It opened with a ceremony on 11 July 1943 that was attended by numerous residents of Ljubljana, the mayor of Ljubljana, Leon Rupnik, and the high commissioner, Giuseppe Lombrassa,[25] and included the blessing by the Ljubljana archbishop Gregorij Rožman.[26][27] The event happened during the "cultural silence" period, a halt to all cultural activities connected with the annexation, ordered by the Slovene Liberation Front.[28][29] The Communist Party and the Ljubljana Liberation Front secretary Vladimir Krivic characterised it as a "scandal" for their movement.[28]
Sculptures
Near the northern end of the pond,[30] at the top of a staircase leading towards Tivoli Castle, stands a bronze sculpture by Zdenko Kalin, named Pastirček ("Shepherd") or Deček s piščalko ("Boy with a Whistle").[31] It was created in 1942 and erected 1 May 1946.[32] It is a bucolic full-length statue of a marching boy with a whistle and represents one of the peaks of Slovene figurative art.[33][34]
In 2000, the Bosnian sculptor Slobodan Pejić transformed a 300-year-old oak tree that fell in a storm into a sculpture named Sožitje ("Coexistence"). With the act, he proposed the beginning of a sculpture garden in the park. The sculpture is a rare combination of oak and bronze. It is 4 metres (13 ft) high and it has been grown over by moss and by lichen. The wood embraces a bronze inner part named Čisto srce ("Pure Heart").[35]
In September 2004, on the occasion of the centenary of his birth, a sitting statue of the poet, writer, and translator Edvard Kocbek was ceremonially unveiled in the immediate vicinity of the pond on its southern side.[36] It is a bronze statue by the sculptor Boštjan Drinovec. The poet sits on a bank and looks at his 30 cm (12 in) double on a handhold of the bank.[37]
History
Tivoli Park area around 1850
Tivoli Park was laid out upon the plans by the engineer Jean Blanchard in 1813, when Ljubljana was the capital of the French Illyrian Provinces. He joined two existing parks, around Tivoli Castle (at that time called Podturn Manor) and around Cekin Mansion, and linked them to the Ljubljana downtown.[38] The park was named in the second half of the 19th century after a summer residence of the Casino Society with an amusement park, a pub and a cafe, which was opened in 1835 next to Podturn Manor.[39][40]
The pond was excavated in 1880. It was later used for boating and ice skating,[8] and for fishing.[41] A tree nursery was established in the park by the city municipality in 1894. It was led by the Czech gardener Vaclav Hejnic, who was the first professional gardener in Tivoli,[42] and who arranged parts of the park in the 1920s.[43] In the same time, the park was also renovated by the architect Jože Plečnik, who designed the Jakopič Promenade that runs through the park, creating a linear visual axis going from Tivoli Castle through Cankar Street and Čop Street to Prešeren Square, over the Triple Bridge, and ending at Ljubljana Castle.[2]
^"Seznam kipov v Tivoliju in na Rožniku" [List of statues in Tivoli and on Rožnik]. Muzejske novice [Museum News] (in Slovenian). Museum of Modern History of Slovenia: 14–16. ISSN1854-3510. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ abcGams, Matija. "Cekinov grad" [Cekin's Mansion]. In Šmid Hribar, Mateja; Golež, Gregor; Podjed, Dan; Kladnik, Drago; Erhartič, Bojan; Pavlin, Primož; Ines, Jerele (eds.). Enciklopedija naravne in kulturne dediščine na Slovenskem – DEDI [Encyclopedia of Natural and Cultural Heritage in Slovenia] (in Slovenian). Retrieved 29 June 2012.
^ abKrelj, Živa (2007). Ekološki status ribnika Tivoli [The Ecological Status of Tivoli Pond] (PDF) (in Slovenian and English). Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana.
^"Seznam kipov v Tivoliju in na Rožniku" [List of statues in Tivoli and on Rožnik]. Muzejske novice [Museum News] (in Slovenian). National Museum of Contemporary History: 14–16. ISSN1854-3510. Archived from the original on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ abMastnak, Matjaž. "Rožni vrt v Ljubljanskem Tivoliju" [Flower Garden in Ljubljana Tivoli Park] (in Slovenian). Slovenian rose society. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
^"Rožni vrt v Tivoliju" [Flower Garden in Tivoli]. Planet Siol.net (in Slovenian). 24 June 2010. Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
^"V hišici Pod turnom št. 2" [In the Little House Pod turnom No. 2]. Slovenski narod [Slovene Nation] (in Slovenian). Narodna tiskarna. 12 November 1941. p. 2.
^Strgar, Jože (1994). "Tivolski ribnik" [Tivoli Pond]. Tivoli: ljubljanski mestni park [Tivoli: Ljubljana City Park] (in Slovenian). Ljubljana: Kmečki glas [Farmers' Voice]. pp. 78–81. ISBN961-203-045-6.
^ abAdamič, Marjeta; Drnovšek, Darinka; Gombač, Metka; Oblak Čarni, Marija, eds. (2001) [July 1943]. "Pismo sekretarja poverjeništva Centralnega komiteja KPS za Ljubljano Vladimirja Krivica dne 20. julija 1943 članu centralnega komiteja KPS Borisu Kidriču" [A Letter of the Secretary of the Trusteeship for Ljubljana of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia on 20 July 1943 to the Member of the Central Committee Boris Kidrič]. Dokumenti organov in organizacij Narodnoosvobodilnega gibanja v Sloveniji [Documents of the Bodies and Organisations of the National Liberation Movement in Slovenia] (in Slovenian). Vol. 8. Arhivi Slovenije [Archives of Slovenia]. p. 319. ISBN961-6137-53-0.
^Janežič, Rok (2001). "Tivoli urejen za slepe in slabovidne - a zgolj začasno" [Tivoli Adapted for the Blind and Visually-Impaired – but Only Temporarily] (PDF). Pika - Glasilo medobčinskega društva slepih in slabovidnih Ljubljana (in Slovenian). 5 (8). The Inter-Municipal Society of the Blind and Visually-Impaired Ljubljana.
^"Mestni park Tivoli" [Tivoli City Park]. Arhitekturni vodnik [Architectural Guide] (in Slovenian). Zavod Trajekt. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^"Novomeški ribiči: prvaki Slovenije" [The Fishermen of Novo Mesto: The Champions of Slovenia]. Dolenjski list (in Slovenian). Vol. 14, no. 30. 1 August 1963. p. 11.
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