Hostel Celica

The buildings in Metelkova served as prison and military barracks for more than 100 years, until the independence of Slovenia in 1991. The city authorities wanted to pull them down, but a group of independent artists managed to prevent the demolition and found an alternative multicultural centre. The prison building has been transformed by 80 artists into a unique youth hostel, bar, restaurant and artistic gallery. The peculiarity of the hostel are the rooms – 20 former cells, now converted into hostel cells. Each of them is a unique piece of art, and there are still the original prison bars on windows and doors. Beside the cells, you can also stay in a dormitory, and on the ground floor there is a room designed for the disabled.

Hostel Celica is also a bar, a restaurant, a gathering point for young travellers and Slovenian youth, an art gallery, a concert stage and an architectural sight of Ljubljana. The rich cultural-entertaining program includes concerts of ethno music performed by top level musicians from all over the world, literary and traveller evenings, artistic exhibitions, round tables, philosophical discussions and a wide range of thematic, culinary and cocktail parties. To sum up: you will not be bored here!

The hostel received numerous acknowledgments, it is recommended by all the travel guides who place it among the most special hostels in the world.