Tourist Atractions

House of Dr. Franc Simonič and Dr. Janko Šlebinger

At the foot of the castle hill, near St. Peter’s Church, stands the house where Dr. Franc Simonič, a historian and Slavist, lived. Dr. Simonič, known for his bibliographic work, meticulously compiled the Slovenian book harvest from the first Trubar book of 1550 up to 1900, which was published by the Slovenska Matica in Ljubljana as the “Slovenska bibliografija” (Slovenian Bibliography).

Dr. Janko Šlebinger, who became Simonič’s son-in-law, also lived here. Dr. Šlebinger, a leading Slovenian bibliographer, reoriented the National and University Library in Ljubljana after 1945 and founded the bibliographic department, which is now essential for rigorous scholarly research into Slovenian history.

The building is a one-story, four-window structure with a commemorative plaque inscribed: “In this house lived and died the librarians Dr. Franc Simonič and Dr. Janko Šlebinger, founders of Slovenian bibliography.” The house is a typical example of a bourgeois house from the first half of the 19th century, which holds not only artistic and historical significance but also memorial importance.