A logical move would be to create a park around the church, which is some 700 or 800 years old and was restored based on the designs of Jože Plečnik. A park would enable people to sit in the shade of linden trees, a sight that could even grace postcards of the Slovenian capital. However, the view of the church was spoiled in the 1980s with the construction of a residential development known -- almost ironically -- as the "Old Church."

That wasn't enough, and at the beginning of the millennium, a private owner set up a parking lot on an adjacent property and cut down two large linden trees. The third linden tree recently died. Unlike the first two trees, it was officially protected, but that didn't prevent a fungus from spreading through the circumference of its lower trunk.

The disease caused the death of the last linden tree, which reminded passers-by that Ljubljana's oldest church did not emerge from concrete. A replacement tree may be planted this month, depending on the weather conditions. Meanwhile, the surrounding buildings will continue to provide the only shade for the church.