Postojna Things to Do

The landscape surrounding the castle was awesome! This photo was taken from the castle window and you can see how the castle was built in such a stategic position in that you would always be able to see who's coming because they can only come from one direction. You can see in the photo that there is a path that leads into the forest and it just killed me that we didn't have the time to see where it lead. Also there but less visible is the stream that runs under the rock the castle is built on.

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Reading up on this castle before I visited I wasn't sure what to expect because the reviews had seemed so mixed. Personally, I thought that the castle was amazing! Built directly into the side of a rockface 123 meters above the valley floor, the view from the upper windows was great! Some rooms were in the process of being refinished while others were left in their originalt condition and i really don't know which i preferred. There was a dungeon as well as a secret cave in the rear of the structure that was used as an escape route into the surounding mountains if need be. Unfortuately the cave itself was closed, however there is a second cave underneith the castle that is open should you wish to venture down there.

While i was in Slovenia we had the luxury of having a car which made it very easy to get to the castle. Without a car you may find it very difficult getting there as I was told that there are no buses or public transportation to Predjama. We actually ended up giving a few fellow travelers a lift. The road to the castle is well marked with signs but you will need a car or a bike to reach the castle.

The Pivka River flows through the small theme park of the watermill and sawmill. There is an area beside the river where you can stretch out and relax after visiting the caves. The river starts near the town of Pivka, about 20km south of Postojna, and becomes the Branica after flowing near the caves. This then becomes the Vipava near the Italian border town of Nova Gorica and meets up with the Isonzo which then flows into the Adriatic near Monfalcone in Italy.

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Modrijan’s Mill is part of a small theme park that’s located just outside the cave entrance on the left hand side as you walk towards the cave entrance where the Pivka River flows. The park is made up of an existing mill, a sawmill and a winery.

Open: 11am-4pm.

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One of life’s most bizarre creatures, the Proteus Anguinus (more commonly known as the Human Fish) is a type of salamander that was discovered, in the 17th century, in the Postojna cave system. It is the largest known permanent cave-dwelling vertebrate measuring 25-30cm long. It is blind and lives hidden in the pitch black for up to a century and can go years without food. It has an excellent sense of smell and is sensitive to weak electric fields in the water which it uses to move around in the dark to locate food. It has human-like pink skin that actually has no pigmentation but looks pink in the light due to blood circulation.

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The tour ends in the Concert Hall which is the largest hollow area in the entire cave system. The reason why it’s called the Concert Hall is because they actually hold music concerts here and the area can hold up to 10,000 people. The Concert Hall is also where you find a pool that contains one of the most fascinating animals in the world – Proteus Anguinus or the Human Fish which is a resident in the cave system. The pool is huge but only contains three of them that were all tucked away in one corner not moving and so it’s difficult to see them with everyone else wanting to take a look at the same time.

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The tour continues down the side of the Great Mountain cavern and over the Russian Bridge which was built by Russian prisoners of war in 1916. You then enter through the Beautiful Caves which are filled with wonderful ribbon-shaped stalactites and stalagmites. It takes 30 years to produce just 1mm of stalactite so these huge formations are thought to be approx two million years old.

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The tour starts at what is known as the Great Mountain cavern. Here you can see all kinds of huge stalactites (the hang down) and stalagmites (that grow up) that are either an orangey-brown colour or a whitish-grey. Some of them are shaped like needles, others are like spaghetti. The stalagmites take familiar shapes such as pears, cauliflowers and sand castles. There are also many pillars which are when stalactites and stalagmites meet over a course of many thousands of years.