Škocjan Caves (; sl, Škocjanske jame, it, Grotte di San Canziano) is a cave system in
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, and ...
. Due to its exceptional significance, Škocjan Caves was entered on
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
’s list of natural and cultural
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 ...
s in 1986. International scientific circles have thus acknowledged the importance of the caves as one of the natural treasures of planet Earth. Ranking among the most important caves in the world, Škocjan Caves represents the most significant underground phenomena both on the
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 su ...
and in Slovenia. Following independence from
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
in 1991, Slovenia committed itself to actively protecting the Škocjan Caves area and established
Škocjan Caves Regional Park and its managing authority, the Škocjan Caves Park Public Service Agency.
Škocjan Caves – World Heritage – UNESCO
* One of the largest known underground
canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...
s in the world
* Examples of natural beauty with great aesthetic value
* Due to particular microclimatic conditions, a special
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...
has developed
* The area has great cultural and historical significance as it has been inhabited since the prehistoric times
* A typical example of contact karst
Description
Škocjan Caves represents the most significant underground phenomena in both the
Karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, Dolomite (rock), dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathe ...
region and Slovenia. Škocjan Caves was also entered on the
List of Ramsar wetlands of international importance
This is the list of Wetlands of International Importance as defined by the Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scient ...
on 18 May 1999. Together with the underground stream of the
Reka River
The Reka (literally, 'river' in Slovene), also the Inner Carniola Reka ( sl, Notranjska Reka), is a river that starts as Big Creek ( hr, Vela voda) in Croatia, on the southern side of Mount Snežnik, and flows through western Slovenia, where it ...
, they represent one of the longest karst underground wetlands in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
Explored length of caves is , caves have formed in layer of Cretaceous and Paleocene limestone.
The Reka River disappears underground at Big Collapse Doline ( sl, Velika Dolina) into Škocjan Caves and then flows underground for surfacing near
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 ...
where it contributes approximately one third of the flow of the
Timavo
The Timavo River, known in Slovene as the ' or ', is a two-kilometre stream in the Province of Trieste. It has four sources near San Giovanni ( sl, Štivan) near Duino ( sl, Devin) and outflows in the Gulf of Panzano (part of the Gulf of Triest ...
River, which flows from the Timavo Springs to 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 th ...
. The view of the big river in the rainy season, as it disappears underground at the bottom of Big Collapse Doline, below the surface, is both majestic and frightening.
The exceptional volume of the underground canyon is what distinguishes Škocjan Caves from other caves and places it among the most famous underground features in the world. The river flowing through the underground canyon turns northwest before the Cerkvenik Bridge and continues its course along Hanke's Channel ( sl, Hankejev kanal). This underground channel is approximately long, wide and over high. At some points, it expands into huge underground chambers. The largest of these is Martel's Chamber with a volume of and it is considered the largest discovered underground chamber in Europe and one of the largest in the world. The canyon of such dimensions nevertheless ends with a relatively small
siphon
A siphon (from grc, σίφων, síphōn, "pipe, tube", also spelled nonetymologically syphon) is any of a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in a ...
: one that cannot deal with the enormous volume of water that pours into the cave after heavy rainfall, causing major flooding, during which water levels can rise by more than .
History of exploration
The first written sources on Škocjan Caves originate in the era of
Antiquity
Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to:
Historical objects or periods Artifacts
*Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures
Eras
Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...
(2nd century B.C.) by
Posidonius of Apamea
Posidonius (; grc-gre, Ποσειδώνιος , "of Poseidon") "of Apameia" (ὁ Ἀπαμεύς) or "of Rhodes" (ὁ Ῥόδιος) (), was a Greek politician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, historian, mathematician, and teacher ...
and they are marked on the oldest published maps of this part of the world; for example the Lazius-Ortelius map from 1561 and Mercator's ''Novus Atlas'' from 1637. The fact that the French painter
Louis-François Cassas
Louis-François Cassas (June 3, 1756 – November 1, 1827) was a distinguished French landscape painter, sculptor, architect, archeologist and antiquary born at Azay-le-Ferron, in the Indre Department of France. His father was an artisan in th ...
(1782) was commissioned to paint some landscape pieces also proves that in the 18th century the caves were considered one of the most important natural features in the
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 pr ...
hinterland. His paintings testify that at that time people visited the bottom of Big Collapse Doline ( sl, Velika dolina). The Carniolan scholar
Johann Weikhard von Valvasor
Johann Weikhard Freiherr von Valvasor or Johann Weichard Freiherr von Valvasor ( sl, Janez Vajkard Valvasor, ) or simply Valvasor (baptised on 28 May 1641 – September or October 1693) was a natural historian and polymath from Carniola, pr ...
described the sink of the Reka River and its underground flow in 1689.
In order to supply Trieste with drinking water, an attempt was made to follow the underground course of the Reka River. The deep shafts in the Karst were explored as well as Škocjan Caves. The systematic exploration of Škocjan Caves began with a
speleology
Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form ( speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology) ...
expedition in 1884. Explorers reached the banks of ''Mrtvo jezero'' (Dead Lake) in 1890. The last major achievement was the discovery of Silent Cave ( sl, Tiha jama) in 1904, when some local men climbed the wall of Müller Hall ( sl, Müllerjeva dvorana). The next important event took place in 1990, nearly 100 years after the discovery of Dead Lake ( sl, Mrtvo jezero). Slovenian divers managed to swim through the siphon ''Ledeni dihnik'' and discovered over of new cave passages.
Archaeology
From time immemorial, people have been attracted to the
gorge
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...
where the Reka River disappears underground as well as the cave entrances. The Reka River sinks under a rocky wall; on the top of it lies the village of
Škocjan, after which the caves are named. Škocjan Caves Regional Park is archaeologically extremely rich; it was inhabited beginning more than ten thousand years ago. A valuable archaeological find in Fly Cave ( sl, Mušja jama) indicates the influence of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
civilization, where a cave temple was located after the end of the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
and in the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...
. This region was certainly one of the most significant pilgrimage sites in Europe, three thousand years ago, especially in the Mediterranean, where it was of important cult significance in connection with the afterlife and communication with ancestral spirits.
Tourism
It is difficult to establish when tourism in Škocjan Caves truly commenced. According to some sources, in 1819, the county councilor Matej Tominc (Tominc Cave is named after him) ordered that steps be built to the bottom of Big Collapse Doline ( sl, Velika Dolina). According to other sources, the steps were only renovated. A visitors' book was introduced 1 January 1819. This date is considered the beginning of modern tourism in Škocjan Caves.
In recent years, Škocjan Caves has had around 100,000 visitors per year. The first part of the Caves—Marinič Cave and Mahorčič Cave with Little Collapse Doline ( sl, Mala Dolina)—was opened to tourists by 1933. It was severely damaged in a flood in 1963. In 2011, it was renovated and a new steel bridge was added.
Visitors can also view the part of the underground canyon with Big Collapse Doline ( sl, Velika Dolina). Tours of the cave are conducted in Slovenian, English, Italian and German.
References
External links
Park Škocjanske jame official websiteŠkocjan Caves- UNESCO World Heritage Centre listing
Photos of Škocjan Cavesat Slovenia Landmarks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skocjan Caves
World Heritage Sites in Slovenia
Limestone caves
Show caves in Slovenia
Caves of the Slovene Littoral
Wetlands in the Slovene Littoral
Municipality of Divača
Ramsar sites in Slovenia