Å kocjan Caves

The Skocijan Caves (Slovene: Škocjan, Italian: Grotte di San Canziano German: Caves of St. Kanzian ) are a system of caves near the Slovenian hamlet Škocjan ( German St. Kanzian ) the municipality Divača, about 20 km east of Trieste and 4 km south of the junction of the main highway from Ljubljana to Koper and Trieste. In 1986, she was included by UNESCO in the list of world cultural and natural heritage of mankind.

Description of the caves

Location, Geology and structure

The Skocijan Caves are located in the sub- Krainer karst area at an altitude of about 420 to 450 m. Through rainwater and rivers the limestone is dissolved. It created caves and sinkholes - large funnel into the landscape. In the first section of the limestone layers flows Reka (which is also the Slovenian word for river ) is still above ground through a 4 km- long gorge. Years ago, some 100,000 collapsed cave ceiling a over the river. Thus, the collapse dolines Big Valley emerged ( Velika dolina, 165 m deep) and Little Valley ( Mala dolina, 120 m deep). In the sole of the Great Valley Reka seeps final. The caves themselves are downstream inter alia from the Okroglica, the Whistling Caves ( Šumeča jama ), the Hanke - channel ( Hankejev channel ), the Martelhalle ( Martelova dvorana ) and the Zaliti channel. In addition, include the Quiet Cave ( Tiha jama ), the Tominc Cave ( Tominčeva jama ) and the Schmidl hall to the cave system whose transitions are a total of 6 km long. The height difference between the highest input ( Okroglica ) and the lowest point (siphon) is 205 m. The largest hall is the Martelhalle with 308 m length, a height of up to 146 m and a maximum width of 123 m. It has a volume of 2.1 million m³.

The river Reka

The caves were created by karst river Reka. The Reka collects their water on an impermeable flysch rock situation. Before the Ponoren leads about 9 m³ on average and up to 390 cubic meters per second. At high tide, the river level rises in the cave usually at about 30 m, the largest-ever flood, which was triggered by the temporary closure of the siphons, brought a level of 132 m. During high water the river carries with large amounts of clay that are deposited in the cave and have given the stalactites a brown color. From the caves of Škocjan the river approximately 35 km flows underground to the sources of the Timavo in Italy. The course is largely unknown. The Reka probably flowed before the Pleistocene aboveground over the karst landscape to the Adriatic. Gradually seeped into the river by the dissolution of the limestone underground and created gradually the caves and the sinkholes.

Flora and Fauna

The particular microclimatic conditions in the soles of sinkholes can thrive cold-loving plants. These include the Auricula (Primula Auricula ), crustaceans (Saxifraga crustata ). Next grow up due to the outflow from the cave openings warm air heat-loving plants such as the Venus Hair ( capillus - veneris Adianthum ) and Rotfrüchtiger juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus ).

By and large, the small valley are rock pigeons ( Clumba livia), Alpine Swift ( Tachymarptis melba ), eagle owl (Bubo bubo), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and common raven (Corvus corax) encountered. Three species of bats live in caves. It is the long- wing bat ( Miniopterus schreiberski ), the Langfußfledermaus (Myotis capacinii ) and the greater horseshoe bat ( Rhinolopus ferrumequinum ).

Historical Overview

Archaeological investigations confirm that the caves were inhabited since the Mesolithic period. The oldest preserved written evidence dates from antiquity. Posidonius of Apamea ( 135-50 BC) writes that the river Timavus swells out of a mountain, crashing into a cave and after about 130 stages under the ground rises to the sea.

Also the map of Lazius - Ortelius ( 1561) and Mercator's Novus Atlas (1637 ), the caves are already registered. By 1800, they were first made accessible to visitors and in 1819 introduced a guestbook. In the 19th century, researchers began exploring in connection with the drinking water supply of the city of Trieste. Ivan Svetina (1839 /40) and Adolf Schmidl (1851 /52) initiated the first research groups. In 1884, the caves of cavers Department of the section of the German - Austrian Alpine Club were given on lease. Under the leadership of Anton Hanke, Josip Marinitsch and Friedrich Müller and the help of local systematic exploration of the caves began. 1890 Martelhalle and the shores of the Dead Sea were discovered. The last major discovery was the silent cave by locals ( 1904). It was only in September 1991 succeeded the cave divers Janko Brajnik and Samo Morel, to swim across the siphon in Marchesetti Lake and to achieve further transitions.

Excursion routes

The scale for tourist excursion routes leads through a part of the caves. He begins with a 1933 artificial 116 m long tunnel that leads from the collapse doline Globočak in the Quiet Cave. First, you can see numerous limestone formations before the visitor reaches a collapse Hall with clay and sand deposits as well as down toppled stones in paradise ( Paradiž ). Through the maze of passage leads to the Great Hall ( Velika dvorana ). Here, up to 15 m high stalactites have formed, giant called stalagmites. After the Organ Hall, named after a organ-like stalactite formation is the first time the roar of the Reka hear that flows through the noise end cave. The path leads through the Cerkvenik bridge that leads to 45 m above the river before he squeezes through the channel Hanke. Before that, about ten feet above the bridge a high water mark attached, which marks the water level during the flood on September 2, 1965. By Müller and the Svetinahalle the visitor reaches the 150 m lowest point below the surface of the road. Next you get up to the Hall of sinter basin and attained by the Schmidlhalle the Great Valley, where the Reka last time above ground flows. Finally, a funicular takes visitors from the Great Valley also back to the visitor center. An elderly visitors' lead before the construction of Cerkvenik bridge deeper into the cave Rushing down, but was often at high tide no longer accessible. Approximately 1 3/ 4 hours a day tours through the caves to be done several times a day.

The area around the great and the small valley as a park Škocjan reported. A circular walk to the visitor center as the start and finish is created as a nature trail, boards provide information on the nature of the environment and the path also leads to viewpoints that provide a glimpse into the sinkholes and cave openings. The itinerary also includes the villages Matavun, Škocjan and Betanja as well as a museum.

International importance

The Skocijan Caves are still the only recorded in the UNESCO list of world heritage monument of Slovenia. Not least due to the inclusion in this directory the caves have become a globally recognized value. 1996, the legal basis for the Regional Park Škocjanske jame was created. A public institution is nowadays responsible among other things for protection, maintenance, research and image of the park. The caves Skocijan are one of the main tourist attractions of the country.