The
first written sources on the Škocjan Caves date
back as early as the 2nd century B.C. In 1689,
the Slovenian scholar J. V. Valvasor described
the sink of the Reka River and its underground
flow. The systematic exploration of the Škocjan
Caves began in the 19th century, with explorers
reaching the banks of Mrtvo jezero (Dead Lake)
in 1890. The last major achievement was the discovery
of Tiha jama (Silent Cave) in 1904, when some
local men climbed the sixty-metre wall of Müllerjeva
dvorana (Müller Hall). The next important event
took place in 1990, nearly 100 years after the
discovery of Dead Lake. Slovenian divers managed
to swim through the siphon Ledeni dihnik and
discovered over 200 metres of new cave passages.
People began to live
in caves (currently considered
to be 3,000 – 1,700 B.C.). The Tominčeva Cave,
in which at least 10 skeletons of young people
were discovered along with funerary goods (animal
bones, ceramics etc.) and buried in a logical order,
is probably the oldest discovered burial place
in Karst.
From the Antiquity
to Valvasor
The first written
sources on the Škocjan Caves originate in the era
of Antiquity. Poseidonius of Apamea (135 B.C. –
50 B.C.) wrote: "The Timava River flows from
the mountains, falls into an abyss (i.e. the Škocjan
Caves) and then, after flowing about 130 stadia
underground, springs beside the sea." The
Škocjan Caves are marked on the oldest published
maps of this part of the world; for example the
Lazius-Ortelius map from 1561 and Mercator's Novus
Atlas from 1637. Valvasor was also impressed with
such an important phenomenon. He illustrated the
basin of the Reka River and described its underground
flow in detail in his work entitled "The Glory
of the Duchy of Carniola" (1689). The fact
that the French painter Louis-François Cassas (1782)
was commissioned to paint some landscape pieces
also proves that in the 18th century the caves
were considered one of the most important natural
features in the Trieste hinterland. His paintings
testify that at that time people visited the bottom
of Velika dolina.
Valvasor’s depiction of Škocjan,
copper engraving
The beginning
of cave tourism
It is, however, difficult
to establish when tourism, as such, in the Škocjan
Caves truly commenced. According to some sources,
in 1819 the county's councillor Matej Tominc (the
Tominčeva Cave is named after him) ordered that
the steps to the bottom of Velika dolina be made
(according to other sources they were only renovated).
On this occasion, more precisely on 1 January 1819,
a visitors' book was introduced. This date can
unequivocally be considered the beginning of modern
tourism in the Škocjan Caves.
In their exploration of the
cave, the first explorers helped themselves with
torches that, of course, could not entirely illuminate
the enormous cave spaces of the Škocjan Caves.
In this photograph, a scene by the rimstone pools
in the Müller Hall.
Cave exploration
after 1800
The Škocjan Caves
were explored throughout the 19th century. In order
to supply Trieste with drinking water, an attempt
was made to follow the underground course of the
Reka River. The deep shafts in the Karst were explored
as well as the Škocjan Caves, with explorers trying
to follow the course of Reka River. In 1839, Ivan
Svetina, an expert on wells from Trieste, undertook
the latter activity and reached the third waterfall,
about 150 metres from the sink in Velika dolina,
in 1840. The next explorations, taking place between
1851 and 1852, were led by Adolf Schmidl, with
a group of Idrija miners headed by Ivan Rudolf.
They penetrated up to half a kilometre farther,
to the fourth, maybe even the sixth waterfall.
A sudden rise of the Reka River swept away their
equipment and three boats, so they were forced
to end their work early.
The beginning
of systematic explorations
The turning point
in the exploration of the Škocjan Caves was the
foundation in 1884 of a speleology division by
the Primorska Section of the German and Austrian
Mountaineering Society of Trieste, which also
acquired the lease to the Škocjan Caves in the
same year.
Under the leadership of the "cave triumvirate" (Anton
Hanke, Jožef Marinitsch and Friedrich Müller) and
with the help of local people (Jože Antončič, Jurij
Cerkvenik - Gomboč, Franc Žnideršič, Pavel Antončič,
Jože Cerkvenik, Janez Delez), the systematic penetration
along the river and exploration of the caves began.
In the first year, they conquered the sixth waterfall, "the
key problem of explorations", in 1887 the
fourteenth waterfall in the Hanke's Channel,
in 1890 they discovered Martel's Chamber and
on 5
October that year reached the banks of Dead Lake,
almost 1,700 metres further from the last sink.
The last major achievement was the discovery
of Tiha jama (Silent Cave) in 1904, when four
local
men climbed the sixty-metre wall of Müllerjeva
dvorana (Müller Hall). This concluded the explorations
of the Škocjan underworld, at least for the
time being.
At the end of over 140-metre
high Martel’s Chamber the cave ceiling drops almost
to the level of the Reka River.
Recent discoveries
There were no important
speleological explorations or discoveries for nearly
one hundred years, until 15 September 1991 when
Slovenian speleologists and divers Janko Brajnik
and Samo Morel managed to swim through the siphon
in Marchesettijevo jezero (Marchesetti Lake) just
before Dead Lake. Below the siphon, they discovered
new large passages with an underground river and
lakes. This has opened a new chapter: to penetrate
down the underground Reka River and reach the passages
of Kačna jama (Snake Cave), a kilometre away.
In 1991, nearly one hundred
years after the discovery of the then "dead
end" of Dead Lake, the divers managed to swim
through the siphon Ledeni dihnik and discovered
new parts of the cave. (Photograph by Arne Hodalič)
A chronology
of explorations
A chronology of explorations
of the underground Reka River canyon in the last
200 years.
A chronology
of exploration of the Škocjan Caves underground
and the springs of the Timava River:
3,000
– 1,700 B.C.
Settlement
of the Tominčeva Cave, Ozka špilja
Human settlement
(archaeological finds)
4th
century B.C.
Written
sources
Pseudo Skilax
135
– 50 B.C.
Written
sources
Poseidonius
1599
First
tracing experiment
Imperato
1815
The
Mahorčič Cave
Eggenhofer
1839
The
Rudolf Hall
Ivan
Svetina, Ivan Rudolf
1851
The
Müller Hall
Adolf
Schmidl
1888
First
map of the cave
Anton
Hanke
1890
Dead
Lake (siphon)
A.
Hanke, F. Müller, J. Marinič, P. Antončič,
the Cerkvenik brothers
1904
The
Silent Cave
Anton,
Franc in Jože Cerkvenik, Jože Nedoh
1991
Discovery
of new parts of the cave behind Dead Lake
Janko
Brajnik, Samo Morel
Prepared by:
Samo Šturm, Tomaž Zorman, Borut Peric
Source:
Kranjc, Andrej (2002): Zgodovinski
pregled in opis jam (A Historical Overview and
Description of the Caves), in the monograph Park
Škocjanske jame (The Škocjan Caves Park), published
by the Škocjan Caves Park.
Kranjc, Andrej: Zgodovina
odkrivanja jam (A History of Cave Exploration),
brochure of the
museum collection in the Jurjev barn in the village
of Škocjan, published by the Škocjan Caves Park.
