Predjama Things to Do

However you look at it, Predjama is a cracking site for a castle. Constructed into the mouth of a cave and protected by sheer cliff faces above and below, it would have been virtually impregnable, and as the rock is riddled with caves, the castle had the added bonus of a hidden entrance that could be used to ship in provisions and through which to escape if needs be!
Probably the best-known historical episode relating to the castle was when the lord, Erasmus Lueger, was killed by a cannonball after his whereabouts were given away by a treacherous servant: legend has it that he hoisted a flag over the room in which the lord was resident. This unfortunately happened to be the toilet, where the lord was sitting in state (so to speak) - the sort of lavatorial episode guaranteed to inspire mirth among small boys (young and old). Once can only commiserate on the situation where your historical claim to fame is that you were blasted to smithereens whilst seated on the slammer!
We didn't go inside the castle as the kids were restless and just wanted to run around and the tour guide gave it a 'so so' writeup. The village adjacent to the castle is a pretty little place, and there is an inviting looking hostelry by the castle gate that looks like a very pleasant place to stop for some refreshment if you have the time.

This is not the ballista that killed Erasmus but a reconstructed model. Every year, at the end of August (we missed it by a week), there is a Medieval jousting tournament in front of the castle with costumed characters, etc
More about the tournament

On the front of the castle, the date of 1570 is painted. This is when the castle that we see today was rebuilt in Renaissance style by baron Philipp von Cobenzl.

The coat of arm of the Coblenz is painted on the front of the castle. It is divided in four quarters. The pair diagonally opposed bears a wild mountain goat while the other pair bears an eagle.

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Not only the castle was built mid-height of a cliff, but it was built half inside of a cave. That means that when the castle was besieged, the defenders could use the caves and several hidden way out, several kilometers away in the country to get supplies of any kind.

The castle was first built in the XIIth and known as “the Cave Castle”.

In the XVth, it was owned by Nicholas of Foramine, aka Luogar, a wealthy nobleman that became governor of Trieste.
His son, Erasmus Lueger was allied to Matthias, king of Hungary that fought Emperor Frederick III. He was both a knight and a brigand, about the same as Robin Hood. Emperor Frederick III besieged the castle for more than year but to no avail as Erasmus got food supplies by secret cave passages. He was finally killed by a cannonball when a servant warned the assailants by raising a flag of the place and the time when he went to the loo each day.

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The first photo shows well that the castle was almost impossible to take: above, a cliff, on the left, a 123 meters cliff, underneath, a cliff. Only on the right is it possible to reach the castle, which means that visitors were spotted long before they reached the main entrance and identified as friends or as ennemies.

The second photo shows better the cliff below, almost impossible to climb for possible enemies.

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Predjamski Grad is perhaps the most famous cave castle in the world. The castle is located in a 123 m high limestone cliff, in the entrance of a cave. This extraordinary and romanic location made it well known.

The cave behind the castle is called Erazmova Jama, after a knight living in the castle, and has 4 levels. The deepest level is water filled, the river flowing through is called Pivka. The castle is built into the huge entrance of the middle level.

An exit from the top level to the plateau was used as secret entrance in the middle ages, today it is filled with rocks. The story goes, that the castle was besieged, but the people in the castle had the secret entrance, and so they had enough to eat. They loughed on the besieger and threw down fresh fruit, to discourage them.

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The visit of the castle is interesting. You can see see some rooms with ancient furnitures and paintings. In some rooms you can see manikins that help you to understand the life in that epoch. Very nice is the Pietas that you can see in the church. From the terrace on the fourth floor you can have a great view over the valley. An unicum in the visit is the Castle in the cave: here crossing a drawbridge you can see a cave which is also called Erazem's den.

On the facade of the castle you can see the coat of arms of the Windischgrätz family.

More photos on my travelogue.

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In the fifteenth century appear Erasmus Lueger, a banished baron, a kind of Slovenian Robin Hood. During the war with the Hungarian and the Austrians of Fred III. Lueger decided to join the Hungarian of king Matthias Corvinus. He retired in the castle and he continued his scorribandes.
On autumn of 1483 the Austrian army encircled of siege the castle but it was impregnable for many months. Erasmus thanks to a secret passages could go out to his liking of the castle and to allow a continuous restocking of weapons and provisions. One day a servant betrayed him revealing his position to the Austrians that killed him.