Postojna Gate

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The gate of Postojna ( older name: Adelsberger gate, Slovenian: Postojnska vrata ) is a mountain pass in the town of Postojna ( German: Adelberg ) on the northern edge of the Dinaric Alps in Slovenia. Due to its location in the narrow area between the upper Adriatic Sea and the south-eastern and central European inland the door had already been formed since ancient times an important mountain pass in the Eastern Alps area for access to and from Italy.

Geography

The gate has a width of around 30 km, the Dinaric mountains can be crossed at a height of 606 meters here.

In the south the Javorniki Mountains limit the gate, north of the Ternowaner forest. The gate of Postojna connects the Pannonian Plain, the Western Balkans and the Eastern Alps to the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea and northern Italy. A somewhat higher crossing in this room is the plateau of the forest Birnbaumer ( Hrušica ).

History

The gate was crossed by the Amber Road on the way from the Baltic to the Adriatic. Similarly, the gate has been linked to the legend of the Argonauts: After the Argonauts are supposed to be driven on their journey, the Danube, the Sava and the ljubljanica up and then through the gate of Postojna to the Adriatic Sea.

The Greek geographer Strabo refers to the area as okra Mountains. Among the Nanos and the surrounding regions are to be understood. According to him, the Illyrian tribe settled here the Japods. In Roman times, the gate was attributed to the Julian Alps. Here, the limit was between Italy and the province of Pannonia. Strabo reports that cargo were transported by truck to Aquileia through the okra Mountains by Nauportus ( Vrhnika ). From there they were transported by boat on the rivers Save and Ljubljana to the east. At the foot of Nanos was located at today's Razdrto a station.

Since the Romans were aware that the core area of the Roman Empire was readily available here, the area at this point by the Claustra Alpium Iuliarum, a system of roads, ramparts and watchtowers was protected to ward off potential invaders. The center of the Claustra was the mountain - fixing ad Pirum in the Birnbaumer Wald, who controlled the Via Gemina between Emona (Ljubljana) and Aquileia in northern Italy. The Adelsberger gate was at the time of the great migrations traversed by the Goths, Huns, Lombards, when they invaded Italy.

At about 600 populated Slavic populations to the field, they crossed the gate to get to the peninsula of Istria. In the Middle Ages and the early modern period a number of castles in the gate were built, for example Predjama Castle, Prem and Sovič.

In the years 1856-57 the railway field - Strasbourg -Trieste was built to connect a section of the Austrian Southern Railway Vienna, Ljubljana and Trieste. Today, the Slovenian motorway A1 leads through the gate.