Metelkova mesto, the barracks that became Ljubljana's alternative heart

When to visit Metelkova, day or night

It depends what you are after. By day you can wander the courtyards quietly, with nobody about, and it is free. At night is when it comes alive, with paid gigs and parties in each club. I would go first in daylight to understand the place and, if you fancy it, come back after dark. More ideas for a night out in Ljubljana nightlife.

It is worth being clear that this is not a theme park, but a self-run space that, according to the Ministry, still faces inspections that interrupt events. Respect its rules and the people who keep it going.

Clubs, galleries and Hostel Celica

Metelkova gathers associations, artists’ studios, galleries and clubs, each with its own programme. The Ministry mentions, among others, the Alkatraz Gallery, Klub Menza pri koritu, which ranges from poetry to rock, Channel Zero for electronic, dub and hardcore, and the Gala hala garden, which hosts a summer programme in a courtyard for about 800 people. A festival marks the anniversary every September.

Hostel Celica deserves its own mention. It was built inside the barracks’ old military prison and has a bar, a gig space and a gallery. If you want somewhere unusual to sleep, I weigh it up against the alternatives in where to stay in Ljubljana.

From barracks to autonomous zone

The building has more history than many monuments in Ljubljana. According to the Ministry of Culture, the Austro-Hungarian army commissioned it in 1882 and it was finished in 1911. It then served the army of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia until 1941, Italian and German forces during the Second World War and, from 1945 until late June 1991, the Yugoslav People’s Army.

With independence the barracks stood empty. The Network for Metelkova, more than 200 organisations calling for a peaceful, creative use of the site, had formed in 1990 and formally asked the new government for it in 1991. When nothing happened, on the night of 10 to 11 September 1993 around 200 people from the alternative scene moved in to stop it being demolished. Since 1995 it has run as a self-managed autonomous zone, with a forum that decides by consensus, and in 2005 part of it was listed as national cultural heritage.

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The museum quarter next door

The neighbouring barracks on the same street have become a museum quarter. The Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova opened there in November 2011, with art from Eastern Europe, alongside the Slovene Ethnographic Museum and a branch of the National Museum that opened in 2008. Together they make a good museum morning before Metelkova; they are all in Ljubljana museums.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Liubliana for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.