Saturday, September 4, 2010

Predjama castle, Slovenia

Why Jackie Chan will never forget this Slovenian castle

For the first two hours we only saw this...

✰ Our Slovenia tour begins!

It was around 6 in the morning, when we woke up and started to prepare for our trip around Slovenia. I was ready pretty fast, but you know, women take longer. So we finally sat in my Renault Clio at 8 and drove off from around Maribor to the other side of Slovenia: To Postojna and Predjama castle, which are almost 200km away. The ride was smooth. It was raining in some parts, especially around Celje, but it got sunny and warm around Postojna. We arrived there at around 10 (Click on the map on the left to enlarge to see the route of the first day).


Postojna
is one of Slovenia's most famous tourist destinations, because of the famous Postojna cave. I must say we did not see the cave this time, because of our tight budget (a ticket costs 20€ per person, check Postojna cave Price List 2010) and because of the time constraint (the tour inside the cave is 1.5h). We had so many other places to visit that day (Predjama castle, Koper, Izola, Sečovlje and Piran), we just had no time to spend in the Postojna cave. But the cave is definitely worth the price and the time. I plan to bring my girl here the next time she visits Slovenia. We need to reserve a day only for the cave. On the photo you can see the famous curtains. I took this photo in 2005 during my last visit.

When we arrived in Postojna, I had to search for a parking space first, because we wanted to take a rest after the long ride. Luckily some people were very helpful and told me that the parking is free for one hour near the main road (Ljubljanska cesta), that goes through the central part of the town. Keep in mind, Postojna is a very small town (around 8500 inhabitants), so the center is also very small.


After parking, we walked around the main square in search of a café for me to take a break. I had to carry my girlfriend's small backpack (with a teddy!). Look how ridiculous I looked! Ah, why is it, that guys nowadays have to carry their girlfriends' bags and backpacks? Somehow it became a habit for me... So anyway, we found a small café, took a break, then walked around Postojna and snapped some photos. You can see this here at your own risk>>

An hour later we drove off to the Predjama castle, which is located 11km north from Postojna. The signboards are placed very well and you can't get lost, even if you don't have a map.

Just follow the arrows to Predjamski grad and you'll find the castle easily.

And then 20min later we arrived the village Predjama (name means "Before cave"), where a young man directed us to a free parking space for visitors. We parked the car and slowly walked through the village towards a big rock. The view was blocked by an old house at first, but then the scenic image slowly unwound and this is what we saw:


It was my and my girlfriend's first time to see the Predjama castle in real. This is one of Slovenia's most famous castles and also one of the most visited ones. I mean look at how it was built! Isn't it amazing? I think the photos don't do the castle any good justice, you need to see this one in real. It's much more impressive. But this castle is not only famous for being built in a rock, it has a very rich history and many legends. A castle was first mentioned here in 1274, but it may have been built already a century before. But it didn't look like the castle of today, this one was built on the ruins of the old one in 1570 in Renaissance style.

Predjamski grad in its full glory.

✰ The legend of the robber knight Erazem Predjamski

The most famous inhabitant of the castle was a knight and a robber baron named Erazem Predjamski (originally Erasmus von Lueg), who resided here in the 15th century. It is said, that he was a handsome and noble man and very well skilled with the sword. At that time this part of Slovenia was ruled by the Royal house of Habsburg in Vienna. However, a new strong leader in Central Europe had emerged: The Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus. At that time many knights loyal to Habsburg and Vienna changed their loyalty to the modern Hungarian king. One of them was also Erazem's best friend. When the Emperor of Habsburg found out about that, he decided to kill him and that really saddned and angered Erazem. He got into a conflict with an Emperor's relative, who spoke bad about his recently killed best friend. Erazem, in order to preserve the honor of his best friend, killed that man and fled to the Predjama castle, where he was hiding. He also became loyal to the Hungarian king, who used the Predjama castle as his base to launch attacks against Trieste, a very important coastal town of the Habsburgs. That enraged the Emperor in Vienna, who sent the Governor of Trieste Baron von Rauber to Predjama castle in order to arrest Erazem. When Baron von Rauber and his army arrived in Predjama, they found it impossible to seize the castle and capture him. So they decided to besiege the castle. But after a year they still couldn't starve him to death or break in the castle. Erazem was still alive and very well, even mocked the governor and his soldiers by throwing fresh cherries and fried beef down from the castle at them. He managed to survive, because the castle is full of caves, holes and hidden rows, that lead outside. The cunning Erazem had been going out regularly to supply himself and his men with fresh food, drinks and other goods. It was impossible to capture him. That's why Baron von Rauber had to resort to a different solution. He managed to bribe one of Erazem's man and asked him to light a candle in the room, where Erazem would be found. When Rauber's army saw the lit candle, they shot a cannon balls into that room and killed the betrayed Erazem. The Habsburgs destroyed the castle and spread false rumors about how they killed Erazem, while he was on the toilet to tarnish his good name. Erazem was buried near the castle and a linden tree was planted on his grave. The old tree is named Erazmova lipa (Erzem's linden tree). Info sources: Wiki, Erazem.com

Erazem and his linden tree in Predjama.

The castle was later owned by various noble families until 1945, when it was nationalized by the communist government of Yugoslavia. They made a museum, that is still open today. It shows the life in the castle from the medieval times.

Enjoy some more photos:

The rock is impressive, so is the whole area.

The steep hill near the castle.

My Japan... Taiwanese girlfriend posing in front of the castle.

The castle from closer.

The facade with trails of the coat of arms of the Cobenzl family.

The coat of arms again, this time above the main entrance.

The main entrance.

My sassy girlfriend making a coin.

You pay 1€ and then put inside a 2cents coin and it will flatten it and write something like I FEEL SLOVENIA. It's a nice way to remember the place you visited. Try it, when you're there. It's fun. There are also few souvenir shops in the area and a toilet, which is free of charge. So everything is taken care of for the average tourist.

✰ How Jackie Chan nearly killed himself here

Did you know that one of Jackie Chan's movies plays in and around Predjama castle? Oh yeah. I remember years ago I watched Armor of God (龍兄虎弟, 1987) and couldn't believe when I saw the famous Chinese actor near or most famous castle in one of his movies. So I did a little research. He shot the movie in 1986 partly in Vienna, Zagreb and Predjama. During one of his stunts, when he tried to jump on a tree branch, the branch broke and he fell down 4.5m and hit a rock. His scull cracked a little and a piece of a bone shot up to his brain. He was rushed to a hospital, where he had surgery 8h later. He was fine, but still has a hole in his head until today, which is filled with a plastic plug. From that time on he is not hearing well in one of his ears (info source). I'm sure he will never forget this castle and Slovenia, but I hope he also has some happy memories from my country. Here is a screen cap from the movie, more about it on IMDB.

In the end of the movie, Jackie blows up the Predjama castle! You gotta love that movie.

Jackie Chan stood in this hole above the castle. Amazing. Follow Jackie on Twitter>>

✰ Is the Predjama castle haunted?

Another interesting thing about the Predjama castle: It was featured on an American reality TV show Ghost Hunters International (aired August 13, 2008). Here's an embedded video below of the first part of the show. Click part 2 and part 3, if you wanna see the whole show on You-Tube.
The show will give you an idea about how the castle looks from inside. As far as paranormal activity goes, I just don't believe that Slovenian ghosts speak English :-)

Ok, back to the real world. If you want to visit Predjama castle, you should go in July during the Erasmus Knight Tournament, where the story of Erazem, the robber knight, is reenacted. My girlfriend and I came a bit late for that, but we still had fun. It was a sunny and hot summer day and we took tons of pics from the outside. If you go inside the castle, I really recommend you, although we skipped that, too. It costs 8€ per person. There is also a cave below the castle, which can also be visited. It costs 7€ per person.

I have to say the visit of Predjama castle was definitely one of the highlights of our trip around Slovenia. I definitely recommend you to visit it. And luckily it's still not flooded with tourists, so you can take some nice photos and enjoy the scenery.

My rating of Predjama castle:

Great place for photos ✰✰✰✰✰
Well preserved and clean ✰✰✰✰
Toilets, parking, souvenirs ✰✰✰✰✰
Friendly to tourists ✰✰✰✰✰

Postojna :Before [Slovenia Tour 2010] Next: Koper>>
[All photos by MKL, 2010, except where otherwise noted]
Related: [My Slovenia page][My Postojna post]

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