The karst cave at Postojna is one of the largest in the world. The cave entrance was known about since the Middle Ages, but it wasn’t until April 1818 that the inner parts were explored. A year later the first tour group was allowed in and since then 32 million people have visited the cave. The cave is a series of caverns, halls, and passages totaling 20.6 kms/12.8 miles long and is thought to be two million years old. Visitors get to see only about six kms/3.7 miles of the cave (about 4 km/2.5 miles on an electric train and the rest walking).
The Russian Bridge was built by prisoners of war in 1916.
The stalactites and stalagmites take 100 years to grow one centimeter. One can only imagine how long it takes from them to reach each other to make a column like this.
The “curtains” take 70 years to grow on millimeter.
Postojna’s claim to fame is that it’s the only place in the world with the Proteus anguinus-an eyeless salamander nicknamed the human fish. It is a neotenic animal which means that an adult keeps most of its juvenile features so that all human fish are babies that have taken on adult functions. People used to think that they were baby dragons. The human fish can live up to 100 years and can go a decade without food. This is a Google image. I saw some in the cave, but it was too dark for my pictures to come out.
Slovenia has an abundance of caves and castles, but Predjama might be the only place where the two are connected. The castle was built into the mouth of a cavern halfway up a 123 meter/404 feet cliff. The four story castle was built piece by piece starting in 1202, but most of what’s visible is from the 16th century. The castle’s most famous inhabitant was Erazem Lueger. He was a 15th century robber-baron who, like Robin Hood, stole from the rich to give to the poor. In 1484, he holed up in the castle to escape capture from the Austrian Army. They surrounded the castle, but he had a secret passage that led out from behind the rock wall so that he could get supplies. He would even mock his attackers by throwing fresh cherries at them, showing them his comfortable situation, but the soldiers were to have the last laugh. One of Erasmus’ servants was bribed to reveal when his master was in the outhouse. Unfortunately for Erasmus, the toilet, situated on the top floor and at the very edge of the castle, was the one place that wasn’t so impregnable. When the servant gave the single, a cannon ball was launched, and Erazem was killed.
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