Škocjan Caves

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Škocjan Caves*
UNESCO World Heritage Site

State Party	Slovenia
Type	Natural
Criteria	vii, viii
Reference	390
Region†	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1986 (10th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO.

Škocjan Caves (Slovene Škocjanske jame; Italian: Grotte di San Canziano) is a system of limestone caves in the Kras (Karst) region in southwestern Slovenia, containing collapsed dolines, about 5 kilometres of underground passages, caves more than 200 metres deep and many waterfalls. This is one of the best-known sites in the world for the study of karstic (limestone) phenomena.

Since 1986, Škocjan Caves are on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

[edit] Between the myth and the history

Giant cave portal. Section outside in fact huge collapsed part of the cave (Velika Dolina)

Terraces of precipitated calcium carbonate, rare inside a cave.

3rd Ponor, where River Reka enters the cave (below the now dry portal of the cave).

The Reka River disappears underground at Velika Dolina into Skocjan Cave (Škocjanske jame) and then flows underground for 34 km, all the way to Adriatic Sea where it becomes the source of the Timav River. The view of the big river, in the rainy season as it disappears underground, on the bottom of Velika Dolina, 160 m under the surface, is both majestic and frightening. The region of Skocjan Caves Park is archeologically extremely rich, indications are that it was inhabited since more than ten thousand years before the present. A valuable treasure of archeological findings in 'Mušja Jama' indicate the influence of the Greek civilization, where a cave temple was located after the end of the Bronze Age and in the Iron Age. This region was certainly one of the most significant pilgrimage sites in Europe, three thousand years ago, especially in the Mediterranean where it was of important cult significance in connection with the afterlife and communication with the spirits of the ancestors.