Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
NOTRANJSKA
Postojna
05 / POP 8870 / ELEV 555M
The karst cave at Postojna, one of the largest in the world, is among Slovenia's most popu-
lar attractions and its stalagmite and stalactite formations are unequalled anywhere. It's a
busy destination and claims that it is visited by a third of all tourists coming to Slovenia -
the amazing thing is how the large crowds at the entrance seem to get swallowed whole by
the size of the caves.
The cave has been known - and visited - by residents of the area for centuries; you need
only look at the graffiti dating back seven centuries in the Gallery of Old Signatures by the
entrance. But people in the Middle Ages knew only the entrances; the inner parts were not
explored until April 1818, just days before Habsburg Emperor Franz I (r 1792-1835) came
to visit. The following year the Cave Commission accepted its first organised tour group,
including Archduke Ferdinand, and Postojna's future as a tourist destination was sealed.
Since then more than 32 million people have visited the cave.
The town of Postojna lies in the Pivka Valley at the foot of Sovič Hill (677m). The Pivka
River and the entrance to the cave are about 1.5km northwest of Titov trg in the town
centre.
Postojna's bus station is at Titova cesta 36, about 250m southwest of Titov trg. The train
station is on Kolodvorska cesta about 600m southeast of the square.
THE HUMAN FISH
Postojna is home to the blind, eel-like
Proteus anguinus
, or olm. A kind of salamander, it lives hidden in the pitch
black for up to a century and can go a decade without food.
The chronicler Valvasor wrote about the fear and astonishment of local people when an immature 'dragon' was
found in a karst spring near Vrhnika in the late 17th century. Several other reports about this four-legged 'human
fish' (č
loveška ribica
as it's called in Slovene) were made before a Viennese doctor described it for science in
1786, naming it for the protector of Poseidon's sea creatures in Greek mythology and the Latin word for 'snake'.
Proteus
reaches 30cm long, with a swimming tail and stubby legs. Although blind, with atrophied eyes,
Proteus
has an excellent sense of smell and is sensitive to weak electric fields in the water, which it uses to move around in
