Postojna CavePostojna Cave –An Exhibition on a UniqueUnderground WorldText: Marjan ŽibernaPhotographs: Postojnska jama d.d. archivePostojna Cave is a phenomenon that has been attracting visitors since 1818, when the caver Luka Čeč discovered apassage into its hitherto unknown sections. It was in April of that year that Emperor Francis I of Austria desired tovisit the cave with his wife, the Empress Caroline Augusta. The hosts set about illuminating and decorating the partof the cave known up to that time, extending 300 metres from the cave entrance, in a manner befitting His ImperialMajesty. Čeč laid a ladder over the channel of the underground river Pivka in order to place a pyramid bearing aninscription on the rocks above it. And so it was that he stumbled upon the entrance to a continuation of the cave.This was the key moment that would make Postojna Cave attractive to ordinary visitors, rather than merely tocourageous explorers of the dark underworld.58 | Adria Airways In-Flight Magazine
Since then the cave has undergoneepochal moments that have helpedspread its fame around the world.Perhaps the new permanent exhibitionEXPO Postojnska jama kras (Expo PostojnaCave Karst), which opened in April this yearafter three years of careful preparations,will be one such moment. The openingof the exhibition, which is housed in apurpose-built structure not far from thecave entrance, took place shortly after the36 millionth visitor had entered the cave.The aim of the exhibition is to present all thedifferent dimensions of the undergroundcave world to those who have alreadyvisited the cave – or who plan to do so aftervisiting the exhibition. The cave guideswho accompany visitors through the cavedo not stint on explanations, but when youare gazing in wonder at the magnificence ofstalactites and stalagmites, it can be easy tomiss what they say. Thus, for example, youmay miss the fact that the stalagmite that isas tall as you are has been growing for some17,000 or 18,000 years. In other words at thespeed of one millimetre per decade.“This is the wall of champions,” says theguide who will conduct us through theexhibition. The room we are in is discreetlylit and the sound of dripping water can beheard – a sound that can only be heard ina cave.On the wall indicated by the guide,signs conveying remarkable facts aboutPostojna Cave light up one after the other:114 species of cave fauna; a railway that hasbeen carrying visitors through undergroundtunnels since 1872; electric lighting since1883, when the streets of London were stilllit by gas; the only underground post office inthe world, which opened in August 1899 andwhich once, when postcards were very muchin fashion, sold 78,000 of them in a singleday; and 150 kings, emperors, presidentsand supreme rulers of other kinds who haveentered their names, as visitors to the cave,in the so-called golden book, since a visit toPostojna Cave was a matter of prestige... Oneof the pioneers of which the cave is proudis the first known cave beetle, Leptodirushochenwartii. This tiny creature broughtfame to Luka Čeč, who discovered it in1831, and thanks to it Postojna Cave becameknown as the cradle of world speleobiology.As the exhibition shows, making imaginativeuse of the possibilities offered by state-of-the-art technology, the undergroundworld of the cave also became famousamong lovers of entertainment and art. TheBallroom and Concert Hall once served asvenues for magnificent dances and concerts.The guide tells us that in 1929 and 1930,when this area was part of Italy, the famouscomposer and conductor Pietro Mascagni,the composer of the opera Cavalleria Rusticana,appeared here with the choir of LaScala opera house from Milan. And whilewe’re on the subject of music, the exhibitionalso gives you the chance to hear a kind ofmusic that is very different from operas andsymphonies.“Those are the Neanderthals,” says the guide,pointing to a group of shaggy individuals ofsomewhat alarming appearance dressed inanimal skins and gathered around a fire in arocky cave. The latter is as realistic looking asits inhabitants. “Well, not real ones,” he grins,when he sees the astonished expressions onthe faces of the visitors. “This is what theirmusic was probably like,” he adds, in referenceto the sound of a flute that can be heard fromthe back of the cave. The exhibition doesnot, in fact, focus only on Postojna Cave andits characteristics, but includes the widerKarst region in all its various aspects. Onesuch aspect is the prehistoric inhabitants ofthis region: the Neanderthals. The simplebut pleasant sounds of the flute carry amessage from the distant past into thismodern exhibition space – that even 55,000years ago (at least), music already meant alot to people. This is, in fact, the age of therudimentary flute made from the thighbonePostojna Cave | 59
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