Tivoli Pond

[3] It has been home to a variety of native and non-native animal species and it has served as a theme and a scene for visual artists and musicians.

[8] The area is situated in the southeastern part of Tivoli Park in the immediate vicinity of the Cekin Mansion,[9] along an avenue that was planted in the 1860s.

[16] On a lawn besides the pond, an open-air library operates in warm weather and a workshop on recycling books and other printed matter, called "The Read Ones.

"[15][17] There is a small bronze plastic next to the middle of the western bank of the pond, named Ribe ("Fish").

It is a depiction of two vertically standing fish, created by the expressionist sculptor France Kralj in 1935 and put in the pond in 1994.

[20] To achieve partial circulation of the water, inflow to the centre of the pond was arranged at its northern side in 2011.

The total catchment area of the pond measures 13.51 square metres (145.4 sq ft) and is entirely located in Tivoli–Rožnik Hill–Šiška Hill Landscape Park.

The average yearly inflow to the pond measures 68,000 cubic metres (2,400,000 cu ft) and depends on annual precipitation.

Additionally, the outflow was regulated by the Ljubljana Water Works and Sewerage (VO-KA) company with a floodgate, operated from a case near the statue of Kocbek near its southern side.

[24] The current pond was dug in 1880 on the order of the Ljubljana City Council as a fire-fighting water reservoir for a fire brigade from the neighbourhood of Rožna Dolina.

[6] Three years later, it was expanded at its southern side, and covered an area of around 8,500 square kilometres (3,300 sq mi).

[26] It was populated with goldfish and other ornamental fish, and European tree frogs heard quite far towards the Ljubljana downtown, at least to Župančič Street (Župančičeva ulica).

[20] At first,[24] the pond was managed by the Laibacher Eislaufverein skating club, which built pavilions for skaters and spectators at a certain distance and a covered[24] changing area[28] all of them constructed in a Vienna Secession style.

[10] It also arranged the surroundings, among other things it planted seven trees at the upper part of the pond, as evident from postcards and photos from around 1900.

[24] In 1906, in the era of intense German–Slovene cultural struggles, the council revoked the club's management rights due to its disregard for Slovene in public communication.

The council continued to manage the facility itself, with the rationale that it was in the general interest of the city to preserve ice skating in Ljubljana as a popular and healthy sport, present in almost every larger city of the time, and that the citizens of Ljubljana would have difficult time missing it.

[24] Nonetheless, although initially deemed a very romantic place and highly valued by residents of Ljubljana, the pond became abandoned over time.

[30] In 1932, two swans, a male and female, caught at Bled, were given to Ljubljana by the Queen Maria of Yugoslavia and introduced to the pond.

[33] Until 1941, the pond was situated at the foot of a large slope, because the ground constantly raised from the railway towards Tivoli Castle.

[29] A thorough renovation of the area of the old garden centre, including the pond, was carried out in 1994,[13][38] when Ljubljana celebrated the 850th anniversary of its first mention in written sources.

[40] In 2011, the pond was renovated again as compensation for the removal of a protected purple beech (Fagus sylvatica Purpurea Group) next to the Opera House in Ljubljana.

1,500 cubic metres (53,000 cu ft) of silt had been removed from the bottom and water lilies were planted there.

To prevent the western shore from being washed away, it was protected with wooden pilots and geotextile in a length of 86 metres (282 ft).

[45] In 1991, the painter Žiga Okorn and the sculptor Jiři Kočica installed their artworks on the banks of Tivoli Pond, emphasising the intertwining of nature and civilisation in a comprehensive cultural frame, and even took visitors on a boat ride.

[14] The depiction was based on a study led by the ethnologist Janez Bogataj, and the card was drawn by the academy-trained painter and illustrator Matjaž Schmidt.