Cankar Centre

Cankar Centre
Cankarjev dom (in Slovene)
2012 concert of the Slovenian Armed Forces Orchestra in the Gallus Hall
General information
Location	Republic Square, Ljubljana
Country	Slovenia
Construction started	1977
Completed	1982
Design and construction
Architect	Edvard Ravnikar

The Cankar Centre (Slovene: Cankarjev dom), or Cankar Hall, located at the southern edge of Republic Square in Ljubljana, is the largest Slovenian convention, congress and culture center. The building was designed by the architect Edvard Ravnikar and was built between 1977 and 1982. Construction was funded entirely by the Socialist Republic of Slovenia.

The center is named after the Slovene writer and social-democratic politician Ivan Cankar (1876–1918).

The centre has four halls named after Slovene artists: Gallus Hall (named after the late-Renaissance composer Jacobus Gallus), Linhart Hall (named after the Enlightenment erudite and playwright Anton Tomaž Linhart), Kosovel Hall (named after the Expressionist poet Srečko Kosovel), and Štih Hall (named after the literary critic Bojan Štih). The Cankar Centre also has a large foyer where events are held (artistic performances, dances, book fairs, etc.). In front of the building stands a monument to Ivan Cankar, designed in 1982 by the sculptor Slavko Tihec.

The ground floor of the centre, like most of the present-day square, was owned by the Roman Catholic Church until 1960, when it was nationalized by the People's Republic of Slovenia. During the building of the Cankar Centre, remnants of the ancient Roman town of Emona were found. Most of the finds have been transferred to the National Museum of Slovenia, which stands on the opposite side of the square.