- Postojna Cave
Postojna Cave ( _sl. Postojnska jama; _de. Adelsberger Grotte; _it. Grotte di Postumia) is a 20,570 m long
Karst cave system nearPostojna ,Slovenia . It is the longest cave system in the country as well as one of its top tourism sites [http://www.postojnska-jama.si/en-index Postojna Cave site] "'] .The caves were created by the
Pivka River .The cave was first described in the 17th century by
Johann Weichard Valvasor [Johann Weichard Valvasor, "Die Ehre dess Hertzogthums Crain: das ist, Wahre, gründliche, und recht eigendliche Belegen- und Beschaffenheit dieses Römisch-Keyserlichen herrlichen Erblandes, Laybach 1689"; reprint Ljubljana 1984 ] ( _sl.Janez Vajkard Valvasor ), and a new area of the cave was discovered accidentally in 1818 by local Luka Čeč, when he was preparing the then known parts of the cave for a visit by Francis I, the first Emperor of Austria. In 1819, the caves were opened to the public, and Čeč went on to become the first official tourist guide for the caves. Electric lighting was added in 1884, preceding evenLjubljana , the capital ofCarniola , the Austro-Hungarian province the cave was part of at the time, and further enhancing the cave system's popularity. In 1872 rails were laid in the cave along with first cave train for tourists. At first, these were pushed along by the guides themselves, later at the beginning of the 20th century a gas locomotive was introduced. After 1945, the gas locomotive was replaced by an electric one. 5.3 km of the caves are open to the public, the longest publicly accessible depth of any cave system in the world.The caves are also home to the endemic
olm , the largest trogloditic amphibian in the world. Part of the tour through the caves used to include a pool with some olms in it, though these have been removed recently due to the effect of flashes from visitngs tourists cameras had on the sensitive skin of the olms.Notes and References
External links
* [http://www.burger.si/Jame/PostojnskaJama/2005/seznam_english.html The mysterious Postojnska jama (cave)]
* [http://www.jkor.de/musik/balkan1.mp"In der Grotte von Postojna"- 1st mov. of orchestra suite "Jugoslawische Skizzen" (later: "Balkan-Skizzen") by prisoner of war, Helmuth Sommer, 1911 - 1993, ]
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