Planinska Jama

Planina Cave, Malograjska Jama


Useful Information

the entrance of Planinska Jama. (Image by Hermann Duckeck)
Location: 5 km northeast Postojna, close to the village of Planina. In the valley behind Mali grad (Ravbarjev stolp), under a 100 m high limestone cliff.
Open: APR to JUN Sat 15, 17, Sun, Hol 11, 15, 17.
JUL to AUG Mon-Fri 17, Sat 15, 17, Sun, Hol 11, 15, 17.
SEP Sat 15, 17, Sun, Hol 11, 15, 17.
[2015]
Fee: Adults EUR, Children EUR .
[2015]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave
Light: none, electric torches req.
Dimension: L=6656 m, D=65 m, A=453 m asl, T=8-10 °C.
Guided tours: L=900 m, D=60 min.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography: Sandro Sedran (2006): Speleo Per Tutti, Escusioni in facili grotte del nord-est italiano e Slovenia / Proposte per un nuovo tipo di escursionismo e spunti di accompagnamento per i gruppi speleologici 256 pp, 265 colour photos, ISBN 8889562099. EUR 19, published by the author: Sandro Sedran, Via Nazionale 259/5, 30034 Mira, (VE), Italy E-mail: contact
F. Sustersic, S. Sustersic, U. Stepisnik (2003): The Late Quaternary dynamics of Planinska jama, south-central Slovenia, Cave & Karst Science, Volume 30(2), 2003, pp 89-96.
Address: Jamarsko Društvo Planina, Zvonko Samsa, Planina 2, 6232 Planina, Tel: +386-41-338-696, Tel: +386-41-304-588, Fax: +386-5-7565242. E-mail: contact
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


Description

inside Planinska Jama. (Image by Helmut Schlierf)

Planinska Jama is close to the village of Planina, at the end of the Planinsko Polje. The imposing entrance is located at the foot of a 100 m high limestone wall and can be easily visited. Around the entrance the remains of an old water mill are still visible, which used the water of the river Pivka. The cave river is dammed right at the cave portal and the channel is actually the trail to the cave.

The cave is an enormous tunnel, the subterranean bed of the Unica river. The path is attached to the left and very wide. After the first 90° turn, the view back is one of the most famous motives of the cave. The light shining through the entrance illuminates the cave eerily, but the visitor is already in darkness. Here the freely accessible part of the cave ends, the cave is closed by an iron gate.

Paninska Jama has much less visitors than the famous show caves nearby. As a result it was guided during many years by pensioners from nearby Planina. The entrance fees are not sufficient to pay a professional guide. For many years it was closed for regular tours and only speleological visits after appointment were possible. This was the result of a collapse of the path, which made visits rather dangerous.

After the war Slovenia became independent and visitor numbers dropped because of the ongoing war in the neighbour countries. But after some years there were enthusiastic people which secured and reopened the cave. Since several years now it is open again, maintained by a local caving club named . Most of the year only on weekends, but during the holiday season in July and August it is open daily. While the tour path was restaurated the cave still has no electric ligh. So if you hafe good lamps bring them along. The cave is really huge and good light is essential.

After the gate the tour path becomes actually a path with only one to two meters. Soon it crosses the river to the right side on an iron bridge. It follows the main passage until the cave divides into two branches. The Pivka comes from the right hand branch and the Rak is coming in from the left. The path follows the Rak to the left for some time, then the cave is left on the path.

The Pivka is the river which enters this limestone hill in Postojna at the Postojnska Jama. The River can be visited for several hundred meters in the Pivka Jama. The Rak is water from Cercnizko Jezero, which reappears for two kilometers in Rakov Škocjan Nature Reserve and then flows to Planina. This complex hydrologic situation and its exploration by dye tracing experiments is a historic highlight of karst research

Planinska Jama is very famous for photographers. After the first turn of the tunnel and with no electric light, only the the blueish shine of the sunlight through the water, the view is very impressive. The high humidity often creates layered fog in the cave which forms a visible horizontal line. You can see some of those motives in our gallery.


Planinska Jama Gallery