Ljubljana, also known by other historical names, is the capital and largest city of Slovenia, located along a trade route between the northern Adriatic Sea and the Danube region, north of the country's largest marsh, inhabited since prehistoric times. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political, and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the area. The city was first mentioned in the first half of the 12th century. It was the historical capital of Carniola, one of the Slovene-inhabited parts of the Habsburg monarchy.

The city's architecture is a mix of styles. Large buildings have appeared around the city's edges, while Ljubljana's historic center remains intact. Some of the oldest architecture dates to the Roman period, while Ljubljana's downtown got its outline in the Middle Ages. After the 1511 earthquake, it was rebuilt in the Baroque style following Italian, particularly Venetian, models. After the earthquake in 1895, it was again rebuilt, this time in the Vienna Secession style, which is juxtaposed against the earlier Baroque-style buildings that remain.