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The opening of the Auersperg Palace on July 17th is one of the biggest cultural events taking place in the capital this summer. The celebrations inside the City Museum and in front of it (Trg Francoske revolucije) will last the entire day. The palace itself tells the story of Ljubljana from the beginning of its construction in 1654 until the middle of 1935 when the palace on Gosposka ulica was bought by the City of Ljubljana in order to create the Museum of Ljubljana. The City municipality of Ljubljana invested in the renovation of the Auersperg Palace in 1998 in order to preserve this unique part of Slovenia's cultural heritage. Following a public tender for the renovation of the Auersperg Palace, construction work began in the autumn of 2000. At the same time, research into the building and archaeological research, together with the strengthening of its foundations [against earthquakes] began. For many centuries the palace was the home to one of the most famous noble families of Upper Carniola - the Auerspergs. The four years of research into the building's heritage, in particular the palace yard, revealed that the 400 year building hides thousand of years of history beneath it: prehistoric wood and urn cemeteries, a stove for burning ceramics from the 3rd century, and even an ancient Roman road, which in the 1st century connected the gates of Emona (the Roman name for Ljubljana) in the east with a harbour on the River Ljubljanica.