The Mladika Complex, the headquarters of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

of the Republic of

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

(), is a

complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

of two buildings in the Center District of the capital city of

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

. The first building, at the address 25 Prešeren Street (), is L-shaped and stands at the intersection of Prešeren Street and Šubic Street (). The other, at the address 11 Šubic Street, stands at the intersection of Šubic Street and Bleiweis Street ().

History

The L-shaped building was built in 1906 and 1907 following the

Ljubljana earthquake An earthquake struck Ljubljana, the capital and largest city of Carniola, a crown land of Austria-Hungary and the capital of modern-day Slovenia, on Easter Sunday, 14 April 1895. It was the most, and the last, destructive earthquake in ...

of 1895, as part of a wider plan of urban renovation carried out by the mayor

Ivan Hribar Ivan Hribar (19 September 1851 – 18 April 1941) was a Slovene and Yugoslav banker, politician, diplomat and journalist. During the start of the 20th century, he was one of the leaders of the National Progressive Party, and one of the mo ...

, to host the town's girls'

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

. It was designed by the architect

Max Fabiani Maximilian Fabiani, commonly known as Max Fabiani (, ) (29 April 1865 – 12 August 1962) was an Italians, Italian architect, born in the village of Kobdilj near Štanjel on the Karst Plateau, County of Gorizia and Gradisca, in present-day Sl ...

. In addition, the education society ''Mladika'' ("Offspring") from 1907 operated there a private girls' elementary school, which in 1910 was taken over by the town. From 1910 until 1912, the second building was built by Mladika upon the plans by the architect

Ciril Metod Koch Ciril Metod Koch (31 March 1867 – 6 May 1925) was a Slovene architect. Together with Max Fabiani, he introduced the Vienna Secession style in the Slovene Lands. Koch was born in Kranj, then part of the Duchy of Carniola in the Austro-Hungaria ...

to host its boarding house, which was operated by the society until 1919.

Architecture

Fabiani's modernist building, based on local architectural tradition, features a white

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

with a number of red brick elements. It is adorned with

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

floral Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants (Flowering plant, angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls in ...

motifs and

owls Owls are birds from the Order (biology), order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly Solitary animal, solitary and Nocturnal animal, nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vis ...

, symbolizing

wisdom Wisdom, also known as sapience, is the ability to apply knowledge, experience, and good judgment to navigate life’s complexities. It is often associated with insight, discernment, and ethics in decision-making. Throughout history, wisdom ha ...

. The building's windows are decorated with steel lintels. The main entrance is surmounted by a clock turret and decorated with a relief of four girls bearing coats-of-arms of the

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola (, , ) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under House of Habsburg, Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A hereditary land of the Habsburg monarc ...

, of the town of Ljubljana and of the businessman Gorup who financed the construction. It was carved by the sculptor

Ivan Zajec Ivan Zajec (15 July 1869 – 30 July 1952) was a Slovenian sculptor. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics. He also designed a monument designated to France Prešeren together with Max ...

upon the idea and a sketch by Fabiani and built into the facade in 1910. Koch's building, closer to the Vienna Secession style, has a rectangular ground plan and also features two contrasting colours. It features

motifs on the partition wall encircling the building.

References

External links

*
Mladika Complex
on Instant Street View {{coord, 46, 3, 5.99, N, 14, 29, 53.05, E, type:landmark_region:SI, display=title Max Fabiani buildings Mansions in Ljubljana Art Nouveau architecture in Ljubljana Center District, Ljubljana Government buildings completed in 1907 Art Nouveau government buildings Art Nouveau educational buildings Government buildings completed in 1912 Government buildings in Slovenia 1907 establishments in Austria-Hungary 20th-century architecture in Slovenia