Philip Mansion is a building in central Ljubljana

Ljubljana

Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...

, the capital of Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

.

It is located along the Ljubljanica

Ljubljanica

The Ljubljanica is a river in the southern part of Ljubljana Basin in Slovenia. The capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, is situated on the river. The Ljubljanica rises to the south of the town Vrhnika and outflows in the Sava River about downstream from Ljubljana. Its largest affluent is Mali graben....

 River, near the city's famous Triple Bridge, just opposite central Prešeren Square

Prešeren Square

Prešeren Square is the central square in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The square and surroundings have been closed to traffic since 1 September 2007. A scale model of the square is exhibited at Mini-Europe in Brussels in a proportion of 1:25 to the original.-Description:Prešeren Square was...

. It was constructed in 1895, at the same time as the Kresija Palace

Kresija Palace

The Kresija Palace is a building in central Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.Located on the banks of the Ljubljanica River around the Triple Bridge, the building is noted for its Neobaroque and Neo-rococo style and structure. It was built after the Ljubljana earthquake in 1895 to house the...

, which stands opposite it on the same bank of the Ljubljanica. Both buildings were designed by the Graz

Graz

The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

-based architect Leopold Theyer. The Philip Mansion was built in a mixture of Neobaroque and Neo-classicist

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 style and was commissioned by the mayor of Ljubljana Ivan Hribar

Ivan Hribar

Ivan Hribar was a Slovene and Yugoslav banker, politician, diplomat and journalist. At the turn of the century, he was one of the leaders of the National Progressive Party, and one of the most important figures of Slovene liberal nationalism...

 as part of a wider project of urban modernization and expansion of Ljubljana after the devastating earthquake of 1895.

The two buildings, the Philip Mansion and the Kresija Palace, were designed as a monumental entry into the town's medieval part under Ljubljana Castle

Ljubljana Castle

Ljubljana Castle is a medieval castle in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is located on the Castle Hill overlooking the old town.- History:According to archeological surveys, the area of the present castle has been settled continuously since 1200 BC, when the first settlements and later fortifications were...

. It is said that the small spire

Spire

A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....

s on their façade

Facade

A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....

s were built at the explicit demand of Mayor Hribar, who was known to be an admirer of Czech culture and wanted Ljubljana to resemble Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, the "city of a hundred spires". However, the more probable explanation is that the spires were meant to serve as a reminder of the town gates in the old defensive wall that stood in their place.