Postojnska Jama

Postojna Cave, Höhle von Postojna, Adelsberger Grotte, Grotta di Postumia


Useful Information

The entrance of Postojnska Jama. The old entrance building on the right side is from the time, when Slovenia belonged to Austria and the cave was called Adelsberger Grotte.
Historic image of Postojnska Jama.
Location: 800 m northwest Postojna.
50 km south of Ljubljana. 2,4 km north of Postojnska Jama, 3 km north Postojna. Motorway E61 exit Postojna, towards the city, straight ahead through first roundabout, keep right at second roundabout. Turn left towards Postojna Cave, follow road for 1 km, parking lots on both sides of the road. Well signposted.
(45.782754, 14.203925)
Open: APR to JUN daily 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16.
JUL to AUG daily 9, 10, 10:30, 11, 11:30, 12, 12:30, 13, 14, 14:30, 15, 16, 17, 18.
SEP daily 9-17, hourly.
OCT daily 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16.
NOV to MAR daily 10, 12, 15.
[2023]
Fee: Adults 3,390 SIT, Children (6-14) 1,990 SIT, Students SIT 2,190.
Combi with Speleobiologic Station: Adults 3,790 SIT, Children (6-14) 2,190 SIT, Students SIT 2,590. [2003]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave cave system. SubterraneaCave Restaurant
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension: L=21,500 m, VR=138 m, A=450 m asl, T=8 °C.
Guided tours: L=5,250 m, 3,750 m by train, 1,500 m by foot, D=90 min.
V=15,000 per day(!) V=800,000/a [2000]
Photography: allowed
Accessibility:
Bibliography: Matjaz Kmecl (1990): Die Höhle von Postojna, Postojna, Postojnska jama, Turizem, 1990
Address: Postojnska jama d.d., Jamska cesta 30, 6230 Postojna, Tel: +386-5-700-01-00, Fax: +386-5-700-01-30. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1213 first known of visit.
16th century in a period of protestant renaissance the visits of the cave reached a first maximum.
1689 described in Ehre des Herzugthums Crain by PeopleJohann Weichard Frh. von Valvasor, a monography about central Slovenia.
1818 installation of the first light, pathways and discovery of new parts of the cave.
1819 visit of Prince Ferdinand I, the heir to the Austrian throne.
1824 first dance events in the chamber now called Kongresna Dvorana (Congress Room).
11-MAR-1857 the opening of the new railroad Wien-Laibach-Triest (Vienna-Ljubljana-Trieste) increases the number of visitors drastically, cave visited by the imperial couple Franz Joseph and Elizabeth.
16-JUN-1872 first cave railroad built, carts pushed by servants.
1884 electric light installed, second cave in the world with electric light.
1901 modernization of the electric light.
1914 gas fueled locomotive engines.
1928 modernization of the electric light.
1959 electric locomotive engines.
1968 building of todays pathways.
12-SEP-1965 IV. International Speleological Congress held in the Kongresna Dvorana (Congress Room).

Description

The famous stalagmite called the Diamond.
the historic cave entrance.

Postojna is of course one of the most famous caves of the world. One reason is the good accessibility of the cave: the natural entrance on the hillside is rather big, the cave itself is really huge and horizontal. So people visited the cave for many years, left their names on the walls and blackened the formations with their torches. But on the other hand this country was inhabited for a long time, it's in the center of Europe, many people visited this country and also explored this "easy" cave. And several of those visitor wrote descriptions, ExplainJohann Weichard Frh. von Valvasor and others, and spread the word. At last there were numerous congenial cave administrators who developed the cave for tourism and made the cave well known all over the world.

The cave has a long history and was used for many purposes. It was used as storage room, as hideout, as bunker, and the Germans used it as an fuel depot during World War II. When the fuel was destroyed by partisans, the explosion and the fire, which burned for seven days, destroyed also a huge passage of the cave. The partisans were guided by a former cave guide and entered through Crna jama, and used the artificial tunnel dug by the Italians to enter Postojna from behind. The Italians took all cave maps with them when they left, so the Germans did not know about this rear entrance and did not guard it. Today this tunnel is used for an alternative cave tur which combines Postojna and Crna jama.

But the first part of the cave, several hundred meters, is black and dirty from visitors of the last centuries. And not only candles and torches are to blame. The visitors wrote their names on the walls, to tell anyone they were there. This behavior is today considered very impolite, a sort of vandalism. But several hundred years ago it was just common, no one had a thought about cave protection. And the former cave vandalism is today a reasearch area for historians, as several famous people left their names on the walls.

Today the visitors traverse this area very fast on the cave train, which takes them about 5 km into the cave, where the tours take place. And the cave is so big, it has several other human installations beneath the train: a cave restaurant, a concert hall for more than 10.000 people, and the cave post office.

The building at the entrance of Postojna Cave was built in the last century. This was the time, when the growth of science made the whole area famous all over Europe. At the fact that Slovenia belonged to the Donaumonarchie (Austro Hungarian Empire) allowed many people to travel freely to Postojna and visit the cave. That's a situation we do not quite have anymore, despite Schengen.


Postojnska Jama Gallery