Hostel Celica

Again, we missed a movie at the Ljubljana castle's open cinema on Friday. This time there were so many people there already, we didn't get our turn and will have to wait till next year (since the there are no more shows, at least none that would interest us). I guess more people show up, if the weather is nice. Although it did start to rain sometime in the middle of the picture, so they must had been a little disappointed, too. ;)

But we did get our turn at the free tour of the Celica hostel. Celica means "The Cell" and is so named because it used to be a military prison of the Yogoslav army. After Slovenian attainment of independence from Yugoslavia, the former barracks were "taken over" by various artist, squatters and they took matters into their own hands. The prison building has recently been converted to house travelers from all over the world in a truly different function that it used to have. It sports a flashy title of the "Hippest Hostel" in the world in the January 2006 edition of Lonely Planet Bluelist.

The picture above shows the side of the hostel, with the graffiti so typical for the area. The glass in the middle covers the outside restaurant.

Above is the hall on the ground floor. Through it you can visit a cafee in oriental style on the right and another one in western style on the left with a restaurant in the middle. The hostel tries to give a chance to many cultures and different points of view through the art in it. I haven't taken any pictures of the first floor, where the prison cells, now converted to rooms for guest, are. That's ok, since Boštjan Burger already took photographs of all the cells in 3D! You should check out his site for other interesting 3D photos of Ljubljana, Slovenija and other interesting places. Some photographs and of course other interesting stuff is also available on Celica's homepage.
The interesting thing about the rooms is, that each was designed by a different artist. Therefore, each is as unique as it gets. Another thing we found particularly interesting is a room of "peace" directly above the dungeon in the basement. It has six niches in the walls, five with artifacts of five major religions and one empty for an "unknown" religon. You can use the room for relaxation and meditation.
If you decide to stay in the cells, don't expect them to be very spacious. It was a prison, remember. It will be a memorable experience, though. I hear guest mingle and show each other rooms, when they learn each one is different. Note there is a wall with names writen on it in one of the cells - the names of former military prisoners. Some guest mistakenly think it's a wall for visitors and add their names :( The second floor has dorms for larger groups of people. It was quite hot there at the time (early afternoon), but the guide said the heat issue will be resolved shortly.
Do take a guided tour if you are in Ljubljana, it's free and you will learn more about the history and the efforts behind the hostel.