POSTOJNSKA JAMA –AN EXPERIENCE FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

Travel destinations Comments: 0 Oct 10, 2024

If you want to mark your travel diary with something new and quite unusual, and which will remain in your memory for a long time, we recommend that you discover the Postojna Cave.

Only fifty kilometers from the Slovenian capital Ljubljana is one of the most beautiful and most visited natural attractions in Slovenia, but perhaps in the whole of Europe. Postojna Cave is not an ordinary cave. It is truly an incredible miracle of nature that the Pivka river carved and shaped drop by drop over a long period of time. As soon as you go deeper into the pit, you feel as if you have stepped into another world, where mountains rise, rivers gurgle and huge acoustic halls open.

It is believed that the Postojna Cave was already known in the Middle Ages. This is evidenced by the "Ditch of Old Signatures", with the oldest signature from the 13th century. In 1818, the inner parts of the cave were accidentally discovered, during the preparations for the visit of Emperor Franc I. Until today, about 20 kilometers of channels of the cave system of the Postojna Cave have been discovered.

At the end of the 19th century, railway tracks were installed in the pit, and they were the first of their kind in the world, and the previous lighting with torches, candles and kerosene lamps was replaced by electric lighting, which illuminates the cold walls, creating fantastic games of colors and shadows.

Tourists can now tour about 5 kilometers of the cave, which is over 20 kilometers long in total — the first 3 kilometers are traveled by little train, then continue on foot, and finally return to the entrance of the cave by train. Thanks to the stroller, visiting the cave is also accessible to people with small children and people with minor disabilities. Given that the temperature in the pit is around 10 degrees all year round, it is necessary to prepare warmer clothes for the tour.

The symbol of the cave is the magnificent "Diamond" stalagmite, which is special both for its size and for the dazzling whiteness with which it "illuminates" the entire hall. The beautiful Murano glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling of the Ballroom also add to the fairytale impression on the way.

The most famous inhabitant of this far-famed cave is the 20-centimeter-long manfish (Proteus anguinus). The manfish is endemic to the Dinaric Karst, which means that it can only be found in this place, in Postojna Jama. Their skin is pale with a pink tint (similar to the color of the human body, which is how they got their name). Although adult animals do not have eyes, they "see" and feel their prey very well with receptors in their skin, and their skin is very sensitive to light. They are thought to live up to 100 years.

Postojna pit is open every day of the year. The tour, which includes a train ride and a guided walk, lasts about 90 minutes.

This magnificent cave is in a way a symbol of Slovenia — almost 40 million people have visited so far, and judging by the popularity of this tour, interest in the Postojna Cave will continue for a long time.