To become unique, you have to embrace everything that shaped you. This includes events, people, society and experiences. There is no point in denying history in order to keep writing it. As a 5-star luxurious hotel, in the centre of the magnificent Ljubljana, our walls are the ones that shaped and are still shaping our story. Zlata ladjica, placed on a spot where people’s lives intertwine with the pulse of the city, is the perfect place where you can see the past hand in hand with the present.
Inside the 15 perfectly unique rooms, you can get an insight into the history written in the building. Every room has preserved something original, even though the building itself was recently renovated. In addition, the rooms are named after historical events, myths and cultural monuments that shaped our story. As we stand behind the uniqueness of our hotel, we stand behind the uniqueness of our guests. As every person is utterly unique, we expanded our offer to concierge service that will serve your unique needs.
The following are just a few of our uniquely designed rooms and spaces, inspired by our city’s culture.
But not in the way you might think of first. They would’ve told us stories of the ultimate ancient profession – smithing. The art of heating metal and hammering it into shape the way the customer wants, was a respected profession in Ljubljana. The well-known smithy in town was located in Zlata ladjica and had a big reputation in the 11th and 12th centuries. Testimonials of the profession were found underground, where once stood the blacksmith’s hearth. Cherishing the rich history, you can still find preserved items in our luxurious hotel.
The Middle Ages were dynamic times to say the least. The era that was driven by people’s superstition left no room for seriousness even when it came to public shaming and penalties. Ljubljana was no exception. The city’s bakery, seen from the Cheating Bakers’ Room, stood across the Ljubljanica River at the spot known as “Pod Trančo” (meaning ‘under the city jail’), where city’s bakers sold their bread. At the time of inflation, although the prices soared, the price of bread loafs remained the same, but they got smaller in size. Market inspectors were there to check the weight of the loafs every week and in case they found out the sold loafs were too light, they punished the bakers with sitting in a pillory in front of the bakery for hours. If the baker did the same mistake twice, the punishment got stricter. As the walls of our unique room show us, the cheating bakers were put in a special cage and dunked in the Ljubljanica River. The act of public shaming is presented on one of the walls in our room “The Cheating Bakers”.
As the Middle Ages already showed us, cheating usually comes with public disgrace.
Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful woman named Urška. It would be an agony to comprehend her beauty, which not only affected the people around her, but she was well aware of it as well. As Ljubljana served her many suitors, she never decided to settle. Urška used to be what we now call a socialite that attended many staged and organised dances at the Old Town Square, just a few steps away from Zlata ladjica.
On the fateful evening of the legend, Urška was attending a dance and refusing to dance with her wide choice of suitors, until her eyes stopped on a handsome young man she hadn’t seen before. Putting her charms in use, she was dancing with him in no time. While everyone was in awe of their beautiful spins, the weather took a turn as well. A great thunder stroke and wind became so strong it swept them in vortex of the storm towards the Ljubljanica River, where they both disappeared in the river’s whirlpool, never to be seen again. The spot around our renewed luxurious hotel used to be a lively venue for social dances. The tale was put into words by the most esteemed Slovenian poet, France Prešeren, and is available to anyone wishing to immerse in the story since its handwritten version is on one of the walls of our “Urška and the Water Man” room.
Preserving city’s interesting history, we offer exclusive stories written by the town of Ljubljana and a safe space to write your own memoirs. Leave your worries behind and get inspired by your surroundings.
