Ljubljana Castle has been a symbol of the town since long ago, although in the last decades only as an image, and it has not succeeded in really being included in town life. In the Middle Ages the fortress used to be connected with the town, they were both surrounded by common walls but in the course of time it started to lose its significance. In the 19th century a prison was located in the fortress and it remained there until the end of the First World War. At the beginning of the 20th century it became the property of the city of Ljubljana, whereafter homeless people moved in. Its town function has been under consideration for a long time, and even Jože Plečnik joined the discussion. In 1932 he suggested a plan for the reconstruction of the fortress into a museum and in 1947 he proposed the construction of a new building for the Parliament of Slovenia. But the reconstruction really started only in the eighties.