Postojna Cave

Postojna cave is one of the most visited tourist attraction in Slovenia. Karst shows different beautiful faces in Slovenia, but the Postojna cave is the most beautiful pearl of them all.

There are more then 12.000 caves in Slovenia, but the Postojna cave is usually the first, and usually not the last, that tourists see when traveling in Slovenia.

Postojna cave is located near the town Postojna, only 50 kilometers from the Slovenian capital. are other tourist attractions near the Postojna cave, like the Predjama castle, where a knights tournament “Erazmov turnir” is held every year, or the warfare history park in Pivka, a popular tourist site.

The Postojna cave is a system of approximately 20 kilometers of caves and tunnels. With that it is one of the 100 longest underground systems in the world. Approximately 1.5 kilometers of the tunnels are man made, connecting different caves that were not connected by nature.

First tourists were allowed in the cave at the beginning of the 19th century, electricity was introduced into the cave in 1884, and train rails were laid in the cave even before that. The trains with tourists were pushed by the tourist guides at first, later the train was run by gas and now the tourists travel with an electric train through the kilometers of the picturesque caves.

More than half a million of tourists visit the Postojna cave every year and each and every one is inspired by the beautiful sight, carved into stone by the Pivka river.

Different animal species live in the Postojna cave, but one of them is really interesting. Proteus anguinus, a endemic olm, also called the “human fish or the Človeška ribica” lives only in the Postojna cave and it can be seen in a special part of the tourist complex.

You could say, that Mother nature shows off the best what she can do in the Postojna cave, and people have helped her to present all the interesting limestone sculptures in a fascinating light. Seeing the stalagmites, stalactites and other Speleothems , some of them are more than half a million years old, does make you respect the nature a bit more.

Cerknica lake (Cerknisko jezero) is located near Postojna Cave, and is also a result of Karst topography. Cerknica Lake is a lake mostly in autumn and spring, but during the summer time it is empty. Occasionally the lake runs dry in winter. Cerknica Lake is the first thoroughly described by Janez Vajkrad Valvazor in his monumental work of Glory of the Duchy of Carniola, which brought him a seat as a member of the Royal Society in London. In Slovenia there are more similar lakes (nearby "Planinsko polje"), but Cerknica lake is the most famous among them all.