The Karst Plateau or the Karst region ( sl, Kras, it, Carso), also locally called Karst, is a

karst plateau The Karst Plateau or the Karst region ( sl, Kras, it, Carso), also locally called Karst, is a karst plateau region extending across the border of southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills sur ...

region extending across the border of southwestern

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

and northeastern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It lies between the

Vipava Valley The Vipava Valley (; sl, Vipavska dolina, german: Wippachtal, it, Valle del Vipacco) is a valley in the Slovenian Littoral, roughly between the village of Podnanos to the east and the border with Italy to the west. The main towns are Ajdovš ...

, the low hills surrounding the valley, the westernmost part of the

Brkini Hills The Brkini Hills (; sl, Brkini; hr, Brkinija) is a hilly region in southwestern Slovenia. Geography The Brkini Hills border the Reka River in the north, the Materija Valley () in the southwest, the Karst Plateau () in the northwest, and the Je ...

, northern

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

, and the

Gulf of Trieste The Gulf of Trieste ( it, Golfo di Trieste, sl, Tržaški zaliv, hr, Tršćanski zaljev, german: Golf von Triest) is a very shallow bay of the Adriatic Sea, in the extreme northern part of the Adriatic Sea. It is part of the Gulf of Venice and ...

. The western edge of the plateau also marks the traditional ethnic border between

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

and

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovene as their n ...

. The region gave its name to

karst topography Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

. For this reason, it is also referred to as the ''Classical Karst''.

Geographical position

The plateau rises quite steeply above the neighboring landscape, except for its northeastern side, where the steepness is less pronounced. The plateau gradually descends from the southeast to the southwest. On average it lies 334 m above sea level. Its western edge, known as the

Karst Rim Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

( sl, Kraški rob), is a continuation of the

Učka The Učka ([], it, Monte Maggiore) is a mountain range in western Croatia. It rises behind the Opatija riviera, on the eastern side of the Istrian peninsula. It forms a single morphological unit together with the Ćićarija range which stretches ...

mountain range in eastern

, and rises to the east and southeast of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

, ending in steep cliffs between

Aurisina Aurisina (until 1923 ''Nabresina'', sl, Nabrežina) is a town in the karst part of the comune of Duino-Aurisina (Slovene: ) near Trieste, Italy, in a region of Slovene minority. It lies 15 kilometres northwest of Trieste, and according to the 200 ...

and

Duino Duino ( sl, Devin, german: Tybein) is today a seaside resort on the northern Adriatic coast. It is a ''hamlet'' of Duino-Aurisina, a municipality (''comune'') of the Friuli–Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy. The settlement, picturesque ...

. Many interesting geological phenomena occur along the Karst Rim, including the picturesque Rosandra Valley (also known as Glinščica). Because the Karst steeply descends towards the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

, it is less exposed to the beneficial climatological effects of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. In the past, the main vegetation on the plateau was

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s, but these were replaced by

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

forests in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s now cover only one third of the Karst. Starting in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, the plateau suffered radical deforestation for economic reasons. Although it is often said that much of the wood for the closely spaced piles that support the island city of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, this is unlikely. Venice perhaps used the wood for naval timber. The most radical deforestation occurred in the first half of the nineteenth century due to clear-cutting by local farmers and conversion of the land into pastures for goats and sheep. The Karst is famous for its

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s. In Slovenia, they include

Vilenica Cave Vilenica Cave or Vilenica Cave at Lokev ( sl, Jama Vilenica pri Lokvi) is the oldest show cave in Europe. The first tourists to the cave were recorded in 1633. It is located next to the village of Lokev in the municipality of Sežana on the Kars ...

(the oldest

show cave A show cave—also called tourist cave, public cave, and, in the United States, commercial cave—is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits. Definition A show cave is a cave that has been made accessible to ...

in Europe),

Lipica Cave Lipica may refer to several places: Poland *Lipica, Poland, a village in the Province of Warmia-Masuria Serbia *Lipica (Tutin), a village in the Municipality of Tutin Slovenia *Lipica (border crossing), a border crossing near Lipica betw ...

, Divača Cave, Kačna Cave,

Postojna Cave Postojna Cave ( sl, Postojnska jama; german: Adelsberger Grotte; it, Grotte di Postumia) is a long karst cave system near Postojna, southwestern Slovenia. It is the second-longest cave system in the country (following the Migovec System) as wel ...

, and

Škocjan Caves Škocjan Caves (; sl, Škocjanske jame, it, Grotte di San Canziano) is a cave system in Slovenia. Due to its exceptional significance, Škocjan Caves was entered on UNESCO’s list of natural and cultural World Heritage Sites in 1986. Internati ...

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

), and

Grotta Gigante Grotta Gigante ("Giant Cave", sl, Briška jama or ''Jama pri Briščikih''), also known as ''Riesengrotte'' or as ''Grotta di Brisciachi'', is a giant cave on the Italian side of the Trieste Karst (''Carso''), close to the village of Borgo Grot ...

in Italy (the largest show cave in the world). Most of the Karst is located in the

Slovenian Littoral The Slovene Littoral ( sl, Primorska, ; it, Litorale; german: Küstenland) is one of the five traditional regions of Slovenia. Its name recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg possessions on the upper Ad ...

, covering an area of 429 square kilometres, with a population of about 19,000 people. The Karst as a whole has exactly 100 settlements. The town of

Sežana Sežana (; it, Sesana) is a town in the Slovenian Littoral region of Slovenia, near the border with Italy. It is the seat of the Municipality of Sežana. Sežana is located on the Karst Plateau, from Trieste, Italy, and from Ljubljana, the cap ...

is the center of the region on the Slovene side of the border. The main rural centers are the settlements of

Divača Divača (; it, Divaccia) is a large nucleated village in the Slovenian Littoral, Littoral region of Slovenia, near the Italy, Italian border. It is the seat of the Municipality of Divača and a railway hub. Geography Divača lies along the A1 mo ...

Dutovlje Dutovlje (; it, Duttogliano) is a settlement in the Municipality of Sežana in the Littoral region of Slovenia close to the border with Italy. Name Dutovlje was attested in written sources in 1281 as ''Dietemdorf'' (and as ''Dietindorf'' in 1284, ...

, and

Komen Komen (, it, Comen or ''Comeno'') is a settlement in Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Komen. It is located on the Karst Plateau in the Slovenian Littoral. Name Komen was attested in written sources in 1247 as ''Cominum'' (and as ...

Štanjel Štanjel (; it, San Daniele del Carso) is a village in the Municipality of Komen in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It is located on the Karst Plateau overlooking the Vipava Valley. In the 17th century it was fortified to defend it against Otto ...

is a picturesque clustered settlement at the top of the northern rim of the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

; its houses are tightly clustered around Turn Hill, giving it the appearance of a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

town. On the Italian side of the border, important settlements include

Opicina Opicina (formerly Poggioreale del Carso in Italian), ( sl, Opčine, Triestine: ''Opcina''), is a town in northeastern Italy, close to the Slovenian border at Fernetti ( sl, Fernetiči). Opicina is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Trieste, the ...

, and

. Natural conditions, including the bora ( sl, burja) wind, and the local way of life all shaped the elements of Karst

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, creating simple but well-defined forms. One of the main tourist centers in the area is

Lipica Lipica may refer to several places: Poland *Lipica, Poland, a village in the Province of Warmia-Masuria Serbia *Lipica (Tutin), a village in the Municipality of Tutin Slovenia *Lipica (border crossing), a border crossing near Lipica betw ...

, with its

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation o ...

(the home of the

Lipizzan The Lipizzan or Lipizzaner ( hr, Lipicanac, cz, Lipicán, hu, Lipicai, it, Lipizzano, sr, Lipicaner, sl, Lipicanec), is a European breed of riding horse developed in the Habsburg Empire in the sixteenth century. It is of Baroque type, and i ...

horse breed) and other tourist facilities.

Language, culture and traditions

The vast majority of the inhabitants of the Karst Plateau are ethnic

. Traditionally, only the village of San Martino del Carso (in the municipality of

Sagrado Sagrado (; vec, label= Bisiacco, Sagrà; fur, Segrât; sl, Zagraj) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Gorizia in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about southwest of Gorizia, on th ...

), has been inhabited by Friulian speakers, while all the rest of the region was almost entirely Slovene-speaking from the Middle Ages until the late 1940s and 1950s, when

Istrian Italians Istrian Italians are an ethnic group from the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic region of Istria in modern northwestern Croatia and southwestern Slovenia. Istrian Italians descend from the original Latinized population of Roman Empire, Roman Istria#Early h ...

fleeing from Yugoslavia were settled in Karst villages in the Province of Trieste, especially in the municipality of

. As a consequence, today an estimated one fifth of the population of the Karst Plateau is Italian speaking, while the rest is mostly Slovene speaking. The Slovenes in the region speak two closely related

Slovene dialects In a purely dialectological sense, Slovene dialects ( sl, slovenska narečja , ) are the regionally diverse varieties that evolved from old Slovene, a South Slavic language of which the standardized modern version is Standard Slovene. This also ...

, both belonging to the

Littoral dialect group The Littoral dialect group (''primorska narečna skupina'') is a group of very heterogeneous dialects of Slovene. The Littoral dialects are spoken in most of the Slovenian Littoral (except for the mountainous areas around Tolmin and Cerkno, whe ...

. In the southern part of the plateau (in the municipalities of

and Hrpelje-Kozina, and the southern part of the

Municipality of Sežana The Municipality of Sežana (; sl, Občina Sežana) is a municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia, near the Italian border. The seat of the municipality is the town of Sežana. The municipality was established on 6 November 1994, when the ...

, in the Italian municipality of

Monrupino Monrupino ( sl, Repentabor) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Trieste in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about north of Trieste, on the border with Slovenia. , it had a population of 848 and an area of .All demog ...

, and in most of the Slovene-speaking areas of the municipality of

), the

Inner Carniolan dialect This article uses Logar transcription. The Inner Carniolan dialect ( , ) is a Slovene dialect very close to the Lower Carniolan dialect, but with more recent accent shifts. It is spoken in a relatively large area, extending from western Inner ...

is spoken. In the northern part (the northern part of the Municipality of Sežana, in the Slovenian municipalities of

and

Miren-Kostanjevica The Municipality of Miren-Kostanjevica (; sl, Občina Miren - Kostanjevica, it, Comune di Merna Castagnevizza) is a municipality in western Slovenia, on the border with Italy. Miren-Kostanjevica is part of the Goriška region of the Slovene Li ...

, in the Italian municipalities of

Sgonico Sgonico ( sl, Zgonik; Triestine: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Trieste in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste, on the border with Slovenia. , it had a population of 2,130 and an area ...

Duino-Aurisina Duino-Aurisina ( sl, Devin-Nabrežina, german: Thübein-Nabreschin, also ; vec, label= Triestine, Duin-Aurisina) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Trieste in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Lying near the border with ...

and

Doberdò del Lago Doberdò del Lago ( sl, Doberdob; Bisiacco: ; fur, Dobardò) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about southwest of Gorizia, and borders the following municipalit ...

, as well in some eastern suburbs of

, like

Barcola Barcola is a maritime neighbourhood of Trieste, Italy. It is a popular tourist place with beaches and long promenades, near the Habsburg-established Miramare Castle. Barcola is highly valued for the high quality of life and the free access to the ...

), the

Karst dialect This article uses Logar transcription. The Karst dialect ( , ), sometimes called the Gorizia–Karst dialect ( ), is a Slovene dialect spoken on the northern Karst Plateau, in the central Slovene Littoral, and in parts of the Italian province ...

is spoken. The Karst is renowned for its strong red

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

, known as teran,

prosciutto ''Prosciutto crudo'', in English often shortened to prosciutto ( , ), is Italian uncooked, unsmoked, and dry-cured ham. ''Prosciutto crudo'' is usually served thinly sliced. Several regions in Italy have their own variations of ''prosciutto crudo ...

and its traditional cuisine, which is a mixture of

and

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

an cuisine. The traditionally produced Karst prosciutto, a sort of

dry-cured ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham" ...

, is protected at the European level.

Prominent natives and residents

Prominent persons that were born or lived in this region include the poets

Srečko Kosovel Srečko Kosovel () (18 March 1904 – 26 May 1926) was a Slovenian poet, now considered one of central Europe's major modernist poets.

Igo Gruden Igo Gruden (18 April 1893 – 29 November 1948) was a Slovene poet and translator. He was born as Ignacij Gruden in the small fishing village of Aurisina near Trieste, then part of the Austro-Hungarian County of Gorizia and Gradisca (now in Ita ...

Ciril Zlobec Ciril Zlobec (4 July 1925 – 24 August 2018) was a Slovene poet, writer, translator, journalist and former politician. He is best remembered for his poems, publishing several volumes of poetry in his lifetime. In 1990 he became a member of the P ...

, and

Branka Jurca Branka Jurca (24 May 1914 – 6 March 1999) was a Slovene writer, principally for children and young adults. Jurca was born in Kopriva in the Karst region of what is now Slovenia in 1914. After the First World War the family moved to Maribor ...

, social activist

Danilo Dolci Danilo Dolci (June 28, 1924 – December 30, 1997) was an Italian social activist, sociologist, popular educator and poet. He is best known for his opposition to poverty, social exclusion and the Mafia in Sicily, and is considered to be one of the ...

, architect

Max Fabiani Maximilian Fabiani, commonly known as Max Fabiani ( it, Massimo, sl, Maks) (29 April 1865 – 12 August 1962) was a cosmopolitan trilingual architect and town planner of mixed Italian-Austrian ancestry, born in the village of Kobdilj near Š ...

, painters

Avgust Černigoj Avgust Černigoj, also known in Italian as Augusto Cernigoi (August 24, 1898 – November 17, 1985), was a Yugoslav-era Slovenian painter known for his avant-garde experiments in Constructivism. Biography He was born in Trieste, to a Sloven ...

and

Lojze Spacal Lojze is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Lojze Bratuž (1902–1937), Slovene choirmaster and composer, killed by Italian Fascist squads * Lojze Grozde, Slovenian student murdered by partisans during World War II * Lojze Kova� ...

, writers

Alojz Rebula Alojz Rebula (June 21, 1924 – October 23, 2018) was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, and translator, and a prominent member of the Slovene minority in Italy. He lived and worked in Villa Opicina in the Province of Trieste, Italy. He was ...

Igor Torkar Igor Torkar was the pen name of Boris Fakin (13 October 1913 – 1 January 2004), a Slovenian writer, playwright, and poet best known for his literary descriptions of Communist repression in Yugoslavia after World War II. Life Torkar was born i ...

, and

Bogomir Magajna Bogomir Magajna (January 13, 1904 – March 27, 1963) was a Slovene writer and psychiatrist. Biography Magajna was born in 1904 into a farming family in Gornje Vreme near Divača in what was then the Austrian Littoral. He began his schooling ...

, theologian

Anton Mahnič Anton Mahnič, also spelled Antun Mahnić in Croatian orthography (14 September 1850 – 30 December 1920), was a Croatian-Slovenian prelate of the Catholic Church and a philosopher who established and led the Croatian Catholic Movement. Mahnič ...

, politicians Drago Marušič,

Josip Ferfolja Josip Ferfolja (27 September 1880 – 11 December 1958) was a Slovene lawyer and Social democratic politician, and human rights activist from the Province of Gorizia. Although he was an Italian citizen for most of his life, he considered himself f ...

, and

Majda Širca Majda Širca Ravnikar (born 20 April 1953) is a Slovenian art historian, journalist and politician. She served as Minister of Culture in the government of Borut Pahor. She was born in Postojna, then part of the People's Republic of Slovenia of ...

, economist

Milko Brezigar Milko Brezigar (6 October 1886 – 22 April 1958) was a Slovene and Yugoslav liberal economist. Biography Born to a Slovene family the village of Doberdò del Lago ( sl, Doberdob) in the Austrian Littoral (now part of Italy), he attended the ...

, and actress

Ita Rina Tamara Đorđević (born Italina Lida Kravanja; 7 July 1907 – 10 May 1979), known professionally as Ita Rina, was a Slovenian film actress and beauty queen. She was one of the major film stars in Germany and Czechoslovakia in the late 1920s and ...

. The picturesque Karst landscape inspired numerous artists who were not from this region, including the poets

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

Alojz Gradnik Alojz Gradnik (August 3, 1882 – July 14, 1967) was a Slovenian poet and translator. Life Gradnik was born in the village of Medana in the Gorizia Hills region, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is today in the Municipality of ...

, and

Edvard Kocbek Edvard Kocbek () (27 September 1904 – 3 November 1981) was a Slovenian poet, writer, essayist, translation, translator, member of Christian Socialists in the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation and Slovene Partisans. He is considered one of ...

, essayists

Scipio Slataper Scipio Slataper (14 July 1888 – 3 December 1915) was an Italian writer, most famous for his lyrical essay '' My Karst''. He is considered, alongside Italo Svevo, the initiator of the prolific tradition of Italian literature in Trieste. Biogra ...

and

Marjan Rožanc Marjan Rožanc (21 November 1930 – 18 September 1990) was a Slovenian author, playwright, and journalist. He is mostly known for his essays, and is considered one of the foremost essayists in Slovene, along with Ivan Cankar, Jože Javoršek ...

, writers

Italo Svevo Aron Hector Schmitz (19 December 186113 September 1928), better known by the pseudonym Italo Svevo (), was an Italian writer, businessman, novelist, playwright, and short story writer. A close friend of Irish novelist and poet James Joyce, Svevo ...

Fulvio Tomizza Fulvio Tomizza (26 January 1935 – 21 May 1999) was an Italian writer. He was born in Giurizzani di Materada in Istria, to a middle-class family. His mother was Margherita Frank Trento, born into a poor family of Slavic extraction. His father, ...

, and

Susanna Tamaro Susanna Tamaro (; born 12 December 1957) is an Italian novelist and film director. She is an author of novels, stories, magazine articles, and children's literature. Her novel ''Va' dove ti porta il cuore'' (''Follow your Heart'') was a bestseller ...

, and film director

Jan Cvitkovič Jan Cvitkovič (born 1966) is a Slovenian film director, screenwriter and actor. As of April 2007 he has already won a total of 12 awards and 3 nominations at various film festivals for his work, including the San Sebastian Film Festival and th ...

. Many artists and authors settled in the area, including

Josip Osti Josip Osti (19 March 1945 – 26 June 2021) was a Bosnians, Bosnian and Slovenes, Slovenian poet, prose writer and essayist, literary critic, anthologist and translator. Biography Osti was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He graduated fro ...

and

Taras Kermauner Taras Kermauner (13 April 1930 – 11 June 2008) was a Slovenian literary historian, critic, philosopher, essayist, playwright and translator. Life Taras Kermauner was born in Ljubljana as the son of the Slovene communist politician and inte ...

Geographical extension

Municipalities that are completely or partially in the Karst include: *

Savogna d'Isonzo Savogna d'Isonzo ( sl, Sovodnje ob Soči; fur, Savogne di Gurize) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about southwest of Gorizia, on the border with Slovenia. The ...

( sl, Sovodnje ob Soči) (partially) **

( sl, Doberdob) **

( sl, Zagraj) (partially) **

Fogliano Redipuglia Fogliano Redipuglia ( Bisiacco: ; fur, Foian Redipulie; sl, Foljan-Sredipolje, german: Radepollach) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about southwest of Gorizia ...

( sl, Foljan-Sredipolje) (partially) **

Ronchi dei Legionari Ronchi dei Legionari ( Bisiacco: ; fur, Roncjis, sl, Ronke, german: Ronkis) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Gorizia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, about southwest of Gorizia and northwest of Trieste. It is the location of T ...

( sl, Ronke) (partially) **

Monfalcone Monfalcone (; Bisiacco: ; fur, Monfalcon; sl, Tržič; archaic german: Falkenberg) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Gorizia in Friuli Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, located on the Gulf of Trieste. Monfalcone means 'falcon mountain' ...

( sl, Tržič) (partially) **

( sl, Devin-Nabrežina) **

( sl, Zgonik) **

( sl, Repentabor) **

( sl, Trst) (partially) **

San Dorligo della Valle San Dorligo della Valle ( sl, Dolina; Triestine: or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about southeast of Trieste, on the border with Slovenia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 6, ...

( sl, Dolina) (partially) *

(partially) **

** Hrpelje-Kozina (partially) Historically, the region around

Pivka Pivka (, german: St. Peter in Krain, it, San Pietro del Carso) is a small town in Slovenia in the Pivka Basin in the Karst region. It is the seat of the Municipality of Pivka. It belongs to the traditional region of Inner Carniola. Name Pivka wa ...

Postojna Postojna (; german: Adelsberg, it, Postumia) is a town in the traditional region of Inner Carniola, from Trieste, in southwestern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Postojna.

and

Ilirska Bistrica Ilirska Bistrica (; german: Illyrisch Feistritz; it, Villa del Nevoso, before 1927: ''Bisterza,'' Hungarian: ''Illírbeszterce'') is a town in the Inner Carniola region of southwestern Slovenia. It is the administrative seat of the Municipality ...

also used to be considered as part of the Karst. This subregional identity is still documented in the late 17th century, but it weakened in the later period, replaced by an

Inner Carniola Inner Carniola ( sl, Notranjska; german: Innerkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the southwestern part of the larger Carniola region. It comprises the Hrušica karst plateau up to Postojna Gate, bordering the Slovenian Littoral (the ...

n identity. Image:View from Štanjel.JPG, The Karst landscape as viewed from Štanjel Image:San Giovanni di Duino - Stivan.jpg, Landscape near

Image:Duino castello 09022008 01.jpg, The cliffs of

Image:Il Carso a Duino.JPG, Karst landscape in the

Province of Trieste The Province of Trieste ( it, Provincia di Trieste, sl, Tržaška pokrajina; fur, provinzia di Triest) was a Provinces of Italy, province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Trieste. It had an are ...

Image:Repentabor3.jpg, The fortified church in

Image:Lokev,Slovenija.jpg, The village of Lokev near

Image:Karst italy doberdo lake.jpg, Lake Doberdò Image:Karst italy landscape.jpg, Karst landscape near

References

External links

Karst in Slovenia
Slovenia: a geographical overview. Nadja Zupan Hajna
PR Office of the Slovenian Government
- Kras and Karst
''Kraško-brkinska regija'' (The Karst and Brkini Region)
{{Authority control Karst plateaus of Slovenia Plateaus of Italy Plateaus in the Slovene Littoral Landforms of Friuli-Venezia Giulia Geographical, historical and cultural regions of Italy Karst Karst formations of Slovenia Rock formations of Italy Natura 2000 in Slovenia Biosphere reserves of Slovenia Dinaric karst formations

Geographical position

Language, culture and traditions

Prominent natives and residents

Geographical extension

See also

References

Further reading

External links