National Museum of Slovenia

On the western side of parklike Trg Narodnih Herojev, the National Museum of Slovenia occupies an elegant 1888 building. It has a large collection but at the time of writing only highlights from the rich archaeological and coin collections were on display.

The Roman glass and the jewellery found in 6th-century Slavic graves is pretty standard fare, but the chef d'oeuvre here is the highly embossed Vače situla, a Celtic pail from the late 6th century BC unearthed in a town east of Ljubljana. Make sure you check out the ceiling fresco in the foyer, which features an allegorical Carniola surrounded by important Slovenes from the past and the statues of the Muses and Fates relaxing on the stairway banisters.