View source for Postojna Cave

{{Article
| status       = PHOTO
| maintainer   = Admin
}}
{{Infobox
| name                = Postojna Cave
| local name          = Postojnska jama
| logo               = Postojna Cave (logo).svg
| street              = Jamska cesta 30
| town                = SI-6230 Postojna
| telephone           = 386 (0) 5 700 0100
| fax                 = 386 (0) 5 700 0130
| email               =  info@postojnska-jama.eu
| website             = https://www.postojnska-jama.eu
| managed by          = Postojnska jama d.d.
| map                 = http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=45.78285&lon=14.2037&zoom=15&layers=M
| contacts = 
{{Contact
| name                = Marjan Batagelj
| role                = Director
| email               = 
}}
{{Contact
| name                = Sabina Paternost
| role                = Public Relations Development Manager
| telephone           = 386 (0) 5 700 0143
| email               = pr@postojnska-jama.eu
}}
|accounts=
http://twitter.com/PostojnaCave
http://www.facebook.com/PostojnaCave
http://www.youtube.com/user/Postojnacave
https://www.pinterest.com/PostojnaCave/
https://www.instagram.com/postojnacave/
}}

{{Teaser|

{{Image|Postojna Cave - 01.jpg}} 

The 20,570 metre-long [[Postojna Cave]] system is the longest cave system in Slovenia as well as one of its top tourist attractions, visited by over 500,000 visitors per year. The 5.3 kilometre-long trail is opened to the public which makes Postojna Cave the longest publicly-accessible depth of any cave system in the world. Its Grand Hall can receive up to 10,000 visitors and often serves as a concert venue.

The caves are also home to the endemic olm (''proteus anguinus''), the largest trogloditic amphibian in the world. Part of the tour through the caves includes a pool with some olms in it, making this one of the rare places in the world where the olm can be seen by tourists.
}}

==History==
The cave was first described in the 17th century by [[Janez Vajkard Valvasor]]. Following the discovery of a new area of the cave in [[established::1818]] by local resident [[Luka Čeč]] it was opened to the public in 1819. A tourist railway was added in the 1870s and electric lighting in 1884. The tourist railway cars were initially pushed along by the guides themselves, but in the early years of the 20th century a gas locomotive was introduced. After 1945 this was replaced by an electric one. 

During WWII the German Army used the cave to store fuel. In a diversion on 23 April 1944 the partisans managed to destroy the supplies and this date was chosen as a public holiday by the [[Municipality of Postojna]].

==Postojna Cave as a venue==

The specific atmosphere and acoustics of the cave has attracted various artists to perform in its Grand Hall. 

{{YouTube|9uX0MPWclX0}}

The Grand Hall can receive up to 10,000 visitors. Several concerts of various music genres have been organised there, performed by the [[Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet Ljubljana|SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana]] Opera Choir and [[RTV Slovenia Big Band]]).

In 2000 [[Matjaž Berger]] directed the theatre performance ''Sigmund Freud: Die Traumdeutung'', produced by the [[Mladinsko Theatre]]. It featured an antological hot-air balloon flight by [[Avi Šorn]] within the cave.

{{YouTube|gYXIgF4yv8U}}

The [[Postojna Blues Festival]] of present-day blues and associated music styles has presented concerts since 2004 in the Jamski dvorec mansion by the Postojna cave.

== See also ==
* [[Predjama Castle]]
* [[Škocjan Caves World Heritage Site]]
* [[Postojna Blues Festival]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.postojnska-jama.si/eng/ Postojna Cave website] 
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postojna_Cave Postojna Cave on Wikipedia]
* [http://www.burger.si/Jame/PostojnskaJama/2005/seznam.html Postojna Cave] on [[Virtual Guide to Slovene Museums and Galleries]] (in Slovenian)
* [http://www.ubu.com/outsiders/365/2007/302.shtml Listen to the original 1970s (probably 1967) ''Diaphon Souvenir'' from Postojnska jama on UbuWeb] and [http://www.discogs.com/No-Artist-Diaphon-Souvenir-Postojnska-Jama-Grotte-Cave/release/2333128 some additional info] 
* [http://www.archdaily.com/218742/exhibition-and-retail-pavillion-in-the-concert-hall-in-the-postojna-cave-studio-stratum/ Article about the retail pavillion architecture in the Postojna cave concert hall] on Archdaily.com
* [http://yondernews.com/2016/04/29/dragons-postcard-from-slovenia/ Andrej Mrevlje (Yonder) on human fish alias baby dragon], April 2016

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[[Category:Monuments and sites]]
[[Category:Tourism]]
[[Category:Music venues]]
[[Category:Venues]]