Jama Pekel
| Jama Pekel
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 Main entrance |
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| Location: | Žalec , Slovenia | |
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Geographic location: |
46 ° 17 '23.3 " N , 15 ° 7' 58.8" E | |
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| Cadastral number: | 553 | |
| Type: | Stalactite cave | |
| Show cave since: | 1972 | |
| Lighting: | electric | |
| Overall length: | 1159 m | |
Jama Pekel is a historic stalactite cave in the municipality of Žalec in the Savinjska region in Slovenia . It is the only cave in Slovenia where artefacts of prehistoric people from the time of the Neanderthals have been found so far.
description
The karst cave in the historic Lower Styria region , which is around 4 km north of Šempeter in the Savinja Valley, is more than 3 million years old. Finds of Neanderthal bone fragments and tools in the cave show that the cave was used as a shelter by early inhabitants of Europe. The cave was explored between 1860 and 1870 by the speleologist Anton Franz Reibenschuh , a professor from Graz and thus known. The first wooden walkways were built during this time.
The cave is now provided with 1159 meters of marked paths, which are spread over two floors. Up the stairs to the top floor is the driest part of the cave. The temperature in the cave is constant at 10 ° C. Through the precipitation of lime, a diverse cave decoration consisting of stalactites such as stalactites, stalagmites, stalagnates and sinter basins was created over time. From the upper floor one has a view of the natural stalactite waterfall with a drop height of four meters. There are also many plant species in the cave, such as mosses, algae, lichens, and animal species such as crabs, beetles, snails and spiders. The waterfall of the Peklenščica river is also the highest underground waterfall in Slovenia.
Visitor information
The cave has been open to tourism since 1972 and is run by the local tourist association. The cave is entered through the main entrance from the visitor parking lot. The visitors then leave the cave through an artificially created side exit. A forest path leads sideways back to the starting point.
Origin of name
The entrance to the cave, where there is a huge image of the devil carved into the rock, points to the historical legend that people used to be afraid of this cave. Especially in winter, due to the temperature difference, water vapor very often escapes from the cave in the form of thick clouds of mist. It was why people used to think that the devil was guarding this cave. Hence the name Jama Pekel ("cave of hell").
Web links
- Jama Pekel on the website of the municipality of Žalec (with pictures, Slovenian)
swell
- Zgodovina jame Pekel on Turistično društvo Šempeter (Slovenian)