Yellow is the colour of the sun that strokes the picturesque
Mediterranean towns on the Adriatic coast. Its rays are infatuated
with the beauty of the karst region planted with olive groves and
vineyards, with peach orchards and cherry trees. Some of the most
beautiful underground worlds of our planet lie below their
roots. There are more than six thousand karst caves and sinkholes in
Slovenia, and ten of these treasuries of limestone masterpieces
created by disappearing karst rivers have been adapted and opened for
tourists.
Every kilometer of the Slovene coast is a new surprise. Here is a
natural reserve with a rich fund of marl and sandstone and the unique,
eighty-meter Strunjan cliff, the highest flysch wall on the Adriatic
coast. Here are the Secovlje saltworks, first mentioned in the 13th
century, and nearby is a sanctuary for more than 150 bird
species. Here the towns of Piran, Izola, and Koper draw visitors with
their medieval cores, while Portoroz, though mentioned as early as
1251, offers numerous modern hotels with congress halls, a fully
equipped marina, a sport airport, thermal baths, a casino, and a
varied offer of summer cultural, entertainment, and sports events. Not
far from the coast, the beauties of Slovene Istria with its
picturesque villages await you. Among them, for example, is Hrastovlje
with its Holy Trinity church decorated with narrative late Gothic
frescoes including a marvelously preserved Danse Macabre.
Behind the Slovene coast is the karst region. In the cellars of the
stone houses excellent wines are poured and sold, and in the attics
excellent prsut is cured in the bora wind. This gourmets' paradise is
also a heaven for lovers of the beauties of the karst underworld.
Postojna Cave, first mentioned in 1213, is the most popular cave in
Europe with more than twenty-six million visitors so far. The Skocjan
Caves, which are on UNESCO's list of natural and cultural world
heritage sites, boast the 1400-meter long and 150-meter deep
underground canyon of the Reka River. The beauties of the Krizna jama
Cave lakes can be seen from boats in the glow of carbide lamps. In
Slovenia, whose language contributed numerous terms to world karst
studies, we also find the oldest tourist cave in the world: Vilenica
near Divaca which offered guided tours in the first half of the 17th
century.
The only cave vertebrate in Europe, the Proteus anguinus or
"human fish" which is also the largest known cave animal in
the world, lives in Slovene caves. And this is far from being the last
of the attractions of Slovenia's karst region. Perhaps you didn't know
that the noble Lipizzaner horse originated in Slovenia. Lipica, where
the stud farm was established in 1580, is today a popular tourist
center with a riding school, hotels, a swimming pool, a golf course,
and a casino.