"Triple Bridge" in Mini Europe Not Before 2006
Slovenia will have to wait another year to be included in the Brussels Mini Europe, where EU states are represented with miniature replicas of their greatest monuments. According to plans, Ljubljana Triple Bridge, representing Slovenia, will be put up in 2006.
Although a year has passed since the last EU enlargement, visitors of the park can only find out the basic information about Slovenia and listen to its national anthem at the place where the monument will stand. According to the park management, the delay is a consequence of the space and time needed to make the replicas.
A special expert committee of the park has chosen Slovenia's landmark Triple Bridge, the work of the world famous Slovenian architect Joze Plecnik (1872 - 1957), to represent Slovenia in Mini Europe. Slovenia's second proposal was the popular resort Bled in the north-west Gorenjsko region.
Triple Bridge, one of Plecnik's masterpieces, dates from 1931 and stands in the place of the old 1842 Spital Bridge with two lateral pedestrian bridges. These are angled southeastward to emphasise how the bridge "funnels" traffic from various avenues leading into Preseren Square, and channels it onward to the Old Town.
In 2004, Poland was the first of the new EU members in Mini Europe with its historical town of Gdansk. Cyprus and Malta set up their monuments in 2004 as well, and this year it is Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia's turn. Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary are, like Slovenia, planned for 2006.
Mini Europe in Brussels was opened in 1989 with some 60 tourist attractions from Europe. The park, sponsored by the EU since 1995, now features around 350 miniatures from over 70 EU cities.
The replicas, 25-times smaller than the real monuments, include Brussels's Grand Place Square, London's Big Ben, Paris's Eiffel Tower, Venice's St Mark's Square, to name a few. Mini Europe has 300,000 visitors a year and a total of 5 million up to now.
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