Old Photos: Church of the Annunciation, Prešeren Square

June 16, 2018

This week’s trip to the archives takes a look at the pink church in the centre of Ljubljana from several angles over the years. Known as the Frančiškanska cerkev Marijinega oznanjenja, or just Frančiškanska cerkev in Slovene, the Church of the Annunciation is pink because that’s the colour of the Franciscan order of monks (well, their colour is red, but close enough for jazz).

Built in the mid-17^th century – with the front façade put up in the 18^th and redesigned in the 19^th – the place has stood the test of time, including surviving several earthquakes. It also once gave the name to the square it’s sited in, formerly Marijin trg, or Mary’s Square, becoming Prešeren’s after the monument to the poet was put up in 1905 (as explored in an earlier post in this series).

As ever, all these images are in the public domain and sourced from Wikipedia, while at the end of this post there's a nice video showing you the inside of hte church, with the alter designed by the same man who made the famed Robba Fountain - Francesco Robba - a replica of which stands outside the Town Hall in the square on the other side of the Three Bridges, while the real one sits in the National Gallery.

1899. Note that the Three Bridges wasn't built until 1932, and thus what you see here is just the middle crossing in today's Tromostovje. Also note the building Pri Bučarji, which is seen where the Prešeren Monument now stands.

1900. A good view of the building where Lolita now operates on the right.

1905, which means the last days of Pri Bučarji

1906, and you can see that Pri Bučarji has gone, and thus get a cleaer view of the building that now houses a Lekarna

1915

1918, during the regulation of the River Ljubljanica

1920, with a nice view of the Hauptmann House on the left (the white, wedge-like building)

1929. Note that in the postcard the square is still referred to as Mary's rather than Prešeren's. You can also see a tram

Dated "between 1928 and 1947", which seems too vague. Nebotičnik (previously) is in the background, and the markings of the circle that are still in the square are clearly seen

Dated again "between 1928 and 1947", and still being called Mary's Square

1941

Finally, here's a video that shows inside the church.