Škocjan
Caves (1986)
Slovenia
This exceptional system of limestone caves comprises collapsed dolines, some 6 km of underground passages with a total depth of more than 200 m, many waterfalls and one of the largest known underground chambers. The site, located in the Kras region (literally meaning Karst), is one of the most famous in the world for the study of karstic phenomena.
Between the Alps
and the Dinaric mountains, on the south-western part of Slovenia lies the Karst
region, a small limestone landscape, bare and waterless on the surface, but full
of natural treasures inside.
These features were researched for the first time on that area, so they
are called "Karst phenomena", this part of Slovenia is
"basic Karst". The international The visit of the mysterious Karst underworld starts at Globočak ( a
sunken Karst cave) where visitors enters the artificial tunnel, 525m long into
Tiha jama (a Silent cave), discovered in 1904. The first part is because of its
various colours of stalagmites & stalactites beauties called a Paradise. The
path leads you to a 118m long, 25m high and 35m wide Big Hall. A vaulted ceiling is full of stalactites and enormous stalagmites spring out
from the gravely ground. The cave is narrowed to the steep Hank channel, where a
bridge is 45m over the Reka river. The Šumeča jama ( a Murmuring cave)
situated even deeper is famous for the calcareous sinter pools. The booming of
the Reka river that created the Škocjan caves could be heard in the distance.
The Reka river is known for its extreme water oscillation. In summer, in the
time of drought, the river almost disappears, and in the time of heavy spring
rain, it becomes the biggest underground stream. The path goes on through
enormous underground halls with the vertical walls, the river rustles on the
bottom as far as the Schmidl's hall where a daylight appears again. The view spot over the cave (423m above sea level) embraces the whole sunken
Karst cave, Velika dolina, villages Škocjan and Betanja, a natural bridge with
a waterfall and a 164m deep wall where the Reka river disappears in the
underground world. Škocjan (its church is situated on 426m above the sea
level) dates from the Iron Age. The remains of the material culture and the
emperor August inscription give evidence of the Roman fortification. The system
of sunken Karst caves of Velika and Mala dolina and the underground stream Reka
create the unique microclimatic conditions. An interesting mixture of Central European, Mediterranean, sub-Mediterranean,
Illyric and Alpine flora species could be found in the region of Velika dolina.
On the very small area you can see the Mediterranean species - Adiantum Cpillus
- Veneris and the relic Alpine flower - an Alpine primrose which is an
incredible phenomenon. The Karst region, waterless on the surface and with scattered eroded stones,
sinkholes and fields, is very attractive, mysterious, murmuring and stiff in its
inside. It is situated between the Ljubljana moor and the Trieste bay, a plateau
called Kras is in the hinterland of Trieste from the pre-Roman period and many
roads from sea to mainland run over it.
In the past times, the thick
lime layers were covered by the waterproof flysch strata that were washed
away during the Ice Ages and so denuded the lime layers, thus enabling the
natural phenomena to shape the surface.
Source:
Ms. Ludvika Foški, Slovenian
Post Office.
Some notes about the Slovenian national flag.
three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red, with the Slovenian
seal (a shield with the image of Triglav, Slovenia's highest peak, in white
against a blue background at the center; beneath it are two wavy blue lines
depicting seas and rivers, and above it are three six-pointed stars arranged in
an inverted triangle, which are taken from the coat of arms of the Counts of
Celje, the great Slovene dynastic house of the late 14th and early 15th
centuries); the seal is located in the upper hoist side of the flag centered in
the white and blue bands
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Revised 21 jul 2006 |
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