Lipica Stud Farm

Lipica is a village in the Municipality of Sezana in the Littoral region of Slovenia, close to the border with Italy.

Ljubljana to Lipica is one of the main tourist centers of the Slovenia’s Karst region. It is the origin of the Lipizzaner horses. The Lipica stud farm was established in 1580 by Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria (son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor). Today the Lipica stud farm is fully functional and breeds the finest horses for haute-école riding. The stud farm now also includes a hotel and leisure complex, a modern adjunct to a historical setting.

The name is derived from the Slovenian word lipa ‘linden tree’, which is common in the area. The staff at the Lipica stud farm plant a new linden tree for every foal born, with the local epithet ‘Lipa, Lipica, Lipizzana’.

The history of Lipica is closely connected with the history of the Habsburg monarchy. At the time when Archduke Charles was thinking about establishing a new stud farm, the Spanish horse was considered the ideal horse breed. Since the soil and climate in the Kras region is similar to that of Spain, Lipica was chosen as the perfect spot for the new farm.

The first horses were bought in 1581 from Spain (24 broodmares and 6 stallions). The Lipizzaner breed as we know today was fully developed in the time of Maria Theresa of Austria, whose husband was greatly interested in horse-breeding.

In the 1960s, Lipica was opened to tourists and new development began and became a public institution that is owned by the Republic of Slovenia and has made significant progress since then. Queen Elizabeth II visited Lipica and its stud farm on 22 October 2008 and was presented with a Lipizzaner horse as a gift from the Slovenian people.

Inside the farm there is a new museum and Parish Church of Saint Martin and nearby Vilenica Cave.

The distance from Ljubljana to Lipica Stud Farm is around 90 km and the journey takes 1 hour.
The average cruise speed is 110 km/h.