An obelisk stands on Trg francoske revolucije (French Revolution Square), at the juncture of Rimska cesta (Rome Avenue) and Vegova ulica (Vega Street – in honor of the mathematician Jurij Vega*). A native New Orleanian would immediately recognize the head of Napoleon wearing a laurel wreath on the side of the obelisk. Napoleon designated Ljubljana the capital of his “Illyrian provinces,” 1809-1816, and the monument is thus known as the “Illyrian Monument.”
Illyrian Monument on Trg fransoske revolucije (French Revolution Square)
A local Ljubljana guide book notes that the obelisk “was erected in 1929, 120 years after the establishment of the Illyrian Provinces…. built of marble from the Croatian island Hvar. A bronze half moon with three stars is engraved at the top, and verses, a French inscription dedicated to an unknown hero and Napoleon’s head … are engraved on the sides.”*
View of the Illyrian Monument from Kongresni trg (Congress Square)
*Matjaž Chvatal, Ljubljana: City Guide (Golnik: Založba Turistika, 2015), 60 and 58.
