Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
30 minutes); a couple to Novo Mesto (€5.20, one hour); and weekday departure to
Ljubljana (€9.60, 2½ hours).
Train
Črnomelj is served by up to nine trains a day from Ljubljana (€6.50, 2½ hours) via
Novo Mesto. There are also trains for Karlovac in Croatia.
Bicycle
You can hire bicycles from
L Šport
( 040 657 657, 305 24 81; Kolodvorska
cesta 13; per day €10; 8am-7pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sat)
.
Around Črnomelj
SEMIČ
POP 2050
A
wine road
(vinska cesta)
runs from Tanča Gora, 5km southwest of Črnomelj, north-
ward through Doblička Gora, Stražnji Vrh and Ručetna Vas to Semič. This attractive little
town, 9km north of Črnomelj, has the ruins of a 13th-century
castle
and
church
.
ROŽANEC
07 / POP 65 / ELEV 195M
About 4km northwest of Črnomelj is the village of Rožanec; to reach it, turn west just
after Lokve. From the village centre a sign points along a trail leading about 400m to the
Mithraeum
(Mitrej), a temple in a cavern dedicated to the god Mithra (
Click here
)
, dat-
ing from the 2nd century AD. One of the exposed limestone faces is a 1.5m-high carved
relief of Mithra sacrificing the sacred bull, watched by the sun and moon with a dog, ser-
pent and scorpion at his feet.
MITHRA & THE GREAT SACRIFICE
Mithraism, the worship of the god Mithra, originated in Persia. As Roman rule extended west, the religion became
extremely popular with traders, imperial slaves and mercenaries of the Roman army, and spread rapidly
throughout the empire in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. In fact, Mithraism was the principal rival of Christianity
until Constantine, a Christian convert, came to the throne in the 4th century.
Mithraism's devotees guarded its secrets well. What little is known of Mithra, the god of justice and social con-
tract, has been deduced from reliefs and icons found in temples, such as the ones at Rožanec near Črnomelj and at
Ptuj in Štajerska. Mithra is portrayed in Persian dress sacrificing a white bull in front of Sol, the sun god. From
