On March 8, we celebrated International Women’s Day with the tour of the trail of the Poet Lili Novy, which is part of the Women Writers Route. Our guide was Mateja Kregar Gliha, president of the Association of regional tourist guides of Slovenia.
The tour began on the Prešeren Square, where we had a good view of Hotel Union, which was built on the site of a house that was once owned by the Lili Novy’s family. We continued our walk along Trubar Street and stopped at the house where Lili Novy was visiting her teacher. We crossed the Butcher’s Bridge and discussed what image of the Ljubljanica river Lili Novy saw in her walks around Ljubljana. The path led us to the former guesthouse Pri kolovratu, which was frequented by many intellectuals, from Jože Plečnik to Oton Župančič. Lili Novy was one of the few women who bravely entered this inn with mostly male visitors, who were not always pleased by her presence. On the way to the baroque Schweiger House, where Lili Novy lived for the longest time, we stopped at The Robba Fountain in front of the Historical Archive, where Oton Župančič worked as the city archivist. He was a good friend of Lili Novy, who translated his poems into German. At Schweiger’s house, we stopped by the sculptural portrait of Lili Novy, made by the sculptor Luj Vodopivec, and read her poem. Our next stop was in Park Zvezda, next to Kazina, which Lili Novy frequented several times. We also stopped in the courtyard of the Ursuline monastery and remembered the important role the Ursulines played in the education of girls from all classes. We ended the tour at Villa Zlatica, where we warmed up with tea and enjoyed the tour of the villa.
