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Useful Information

Near Sezana. On the road from Sezna to Lokev, 7km from Sezana, 10km W of Triest(Italy).

OCT to APR Sun, Hol at 15.
MAY to SEP Sun, Hol at 10, 15, 17.
For groups (10+) only: each day by prior arrangement. [2003]

Fee:

Adults 1,200 SIT, Children (7-16) 700 SIT. Transverzala SIT 700. Groups: 1 out of 10 free. [2003]

Classification:

Karst cave. Cretaceous limestone

Light:

electric.

Dimension:

L=1,300m, HD=179m, T=10°C.

Guided tours:

L=390m (800m), HD=90m, D=60min.

Bibliography:

Matjaž Puc (2000): Vilenica - zgodovina in opis kraške jame, Kulturni center Sreška Kosovela, Sežana ()
Peter Hofmann (2002): KRAS - Wege im Klassischen Karst, Ein Exkursionsführer zu den Schönheiten des Klassischen Karstes rund um Postojna (Slowenien), Selbstverlag, Oberaudorf, 2002 ()

Address:

Jamarsko društvo Sežana (Speleological group of Sežana), Partizanska 61, SI-6210 Sežana, Tel: +386-5-7344259, +386-5-7301111 (tour arrangement). E-mail: vilenica@siol.net

Last update:

$Date: 2003/10/01 22:44:30 $

History

1633

probably first guided cave tour ever.

18th century

visited by Baltazar Hacquet.

1829-1830

passage to the Hall of the Fairies built.

1963

renovated and electric light installed by the Jamarsko društvo Sežana.

Description

Jama Vilenica is a cave with a very long history. It is probably the oldest show cave of the world as the first guided tour is recorded for 1633. Count Petazzi, the landowner, gave the cave as a fief to the parish of Lokev. They opened it for visitors, and the cave was known as the most visited cave of the classic karst until mid 19th century. The reasons for this popularity are easy to understand: the proximity to the big city Trieste, the easy access and the character of the cave, which did not require much development work.

But when Postojna was developed, the popularity sank and the cave visits nearly stopped. The fame to revivive this beautiful cave belongs the Jamarsko društvo Sežana (Speleological group of Sežana), who installed new paths and electric light in 1963. Since then, the cave is again used as a show cave.

The name Vilenica is derived from the Slowenian word vile, which means fairy. The locals believed the cave was the home of good fairies.

The cave is entered down a doline, where the roof of a chamber collapsed. The first chamber, at the foot of the stairs is the so called dance floor hall, as this hall was traditionally used to make dance festivals. There is an artificial platform for this purpose.

The tour follows the main passage of the cave to the final chamber, with its abundace of speleothems. But the whole cave is renowned for its speleothems, which are found all along the tour path. First we see the Alley of Dripstones, then the Red Room with enormous curtains and red coloured speleothems. Then we bypass the Organ and enter the final Hall of the Fairies. Here the path is cut out of massive flowstone, and the visitor stand on a balcony above the huge stalagmites of the Hall of the Fairies. The biggest stalagmite here is 20m high and has a circumference of 10m at the base.

The path is nearly 400m long, and as we have to go back the same track, it is about 800m to walk. As the path is sometimes a little rough, good shoes are recommended. The tour descends 90m to the final chamber, which means a lot of stairs, and the handrail is sometimes a little ramshackle. The dance floor hall with its opening at the ceiling is a typical cold trap, and so it is rather cool, even in summer there are normally only 6°C. All in all not a cave for pensioners, good shoes and apropriate clothes are recommended. However, the cave definitely rewards the little endeavour!

See also

Welcome to Vilenica, official site, but seems to be down. ( )

Vilenica. It seems, this is the "official" site, as above link is dead, and this page is maintained by the Jamarsko društvo Sežana (Speleological group of Sežana), who maintains the cave. ( )

Jama Vilenica - Die Mutter der Schauhöhlen, very informative page, but only in ()

Jama Vilenica, a page with little info, but several photogrphs of the cave. ()

Jama Vilenica ()

Slovenia-Grotte di Vilenica, a nice page with pictures and map. ()

The cave of Vilenica occurs in the crushed Cretaceous limestone. Its underground corridor runs due south-east in the form of a single slanted natural tunnel full of calcite sediments and breakdowns. Already at the entrance, there is a string of calcite formations and dripstone of various shapes and colours that filled the corridor. The cave was mostly formed by collapsing rocks above the original water channel. This suggests that the cave is very old, because the many different formations of calcite filled entire galleries so that it is impossible to establish what were the original dimensions of the cave when the river channel was cut and when the waters finally receded. It is also difficult to establish what kind of subterranean karst river ran in this part of Karst, because corrosive denudation and the lowering of the karst surface brought the cave system very close to the present level. The former slanted water channel of the cave system suggests great depth beneath the former surface when the tunnel was completely flooded.

The current entrance is a rock collapse from the more recent geological period because no significant changes have been detected in the calcite formations in the entrance corridor due to temperature fluctuation and decreased air humidity. The surface of the dripstone changes considerably over a longer period, turning grey to dark grey. In the entrance tunnel, the grey layer of calcite is not yet very thick but it is considerably grey and dingy in colour.

The entrance to the cave is a small sinkhole. The collapsed gravely entrance corridor leads in the north-easterly direction to the dance hall. This area is 25 m wide and over 10 m high and has collapse gravel at the bottom. Along the western edge, there is a man-made stage area where traditional events were held. It is called the old Dance Hall even though the original dance hall was located hundred meter further down the tunnel. This hall features a mighty dark-grey dripstone column which was named Maverby the visitors.

The corridor is continuous yet articulated, dropping and climbing at different points and expanding to a width and height of up to 30 m. The slanted entrance tunnel descends and becomes narrower and after a 100 m levels off. The ceiling, walls and floor are covered with thick stalactites, columns, stalagmites and curtains. This section of the cave was called Dripstone Alley, because it fascinated the very first visitors.

At the end of this section, the floor and ceiling begin to descend rapidly, while the cave area loses the character of a corridor. Here is a natural 15 m deep gorge leading into the lower hall, where only rare visitors in 18th century ventured. One of them was Baltazar Hacquet. In 1829 and 1830, a passage was cut and secured for public visits, skirting Orgle (Organ) and opening into the picturesque Hall of the Fairies which was once called the Underground Garden. It is 30 to 40 m wide and 30 m high, featuring the Great Column, a 22 m high stalagmite. The former and current public footpath ends 400 m from the entrance, in this hall, which is the finest, most picturesque and best preserved part of the cave.

Then the cave turns due north winding its way between the collapsed blocks of rock and continues into the second part of the cave, characterised by smaller chambers which rarely exceed the width and height og 10 m. The dripstone-lined corridor widens and narrows several times to the end of the cave. The lowest part of the tunnel, which is not open to the public, is called Fabris`s corridor and features fine stalactites and helictites. It appears as a giant, slanted fissure, dropping almost 60 m deep. At the bottom, there are several clay sediments, which suggests that karst water trapped at the bottom of Vilenica rose and receded at an elevation of 237 m.