Postojna Cave

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Stalagmite named Brilliant is the symbol of the Postojnska jama

The Karstic cave system at Postojna

The Concert hall has sufficient space for 10.000 people. Acoustic here are exceptional - that's why Symphony orchestras, the world renowes Octet and a variety of soloists appear here

Postojna Cave (Slovenian: Postojnska jama) is a 20,570 m long Karst cave system near Postojna, Slovenia It is the longest cave system in the country as well as one of its top touristic sites.

The caves were created by river Pivka.

The cave was first described in the 17th century by Janez Vajkard Valvasor, and a new area of the cave was discovered accidentally in 1818 by local Luka Čeč, when he was preparing the then known parts of the cave for a visit by Francis I, emperor of Austria. In 1819, the caves were open to public, and Čeč went on to become the first official tourist guide for the caves. Electric lighting was added in 1872, preceding even Ljubljana, the capital of Carniola, the Austro-Hungarian province the cave was part of at the time and further enhancing the cave system's popularity. At aproximately the same time, rails were laid in the cave and tourist trains introduced. At first, these were manually operated by the guides, and in the beginning of the 20th century, a gas locomotive was introduced. After WW2, the gas locomotive was replaced by an electric one. 5,3 km of the cave is open for public, the longest publicly accessible depth of any cave system in the world.

The caves are also home to the endemic olm, the largest trogloditic amphibian in the world. Part of the tour through the caves includes a pool with some olms in it, making this the only place in the world where the olm can be seen by tourists.