Things to do in Cerknica
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Lake Cerknica
Since ancient times periodic Lake Cerknica (Cerniško Jezero) has baffled and perplexed people, including the Greek geographer and historian Strabo (63 BC-AD 24), who called the mysterious body of water Lacus Lugeus (Mourning Lake). It wasn't until Valvasor explained how the water system worked at the end of the 17th century that it was fully understood.
Cerknica is a polje, a field above a collapsed karst cavern full of sinkholes, potholes, siphons and underground tunnels, which can stay dry for much of the year but then floods. From the south, the polje is fed by a disappearing river, the Stržen, and to the east and west it collects water underground from the Bloke…
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Snežnik Castle
Just south of the village of Kozarišče (population 240), in the secluded Lož Valley (Loška Dolina) some 21km southeast of Cerknica, stands 16th-century Renaissance Snežnik Castle. Surrounded by a large and protected park, it is one of the loveliest and best-situated fortresses in Slovenia.
The entrance to the castle, formerly the property of the Schönburg-Waldenburg family, who used what they called Schneeberg as a summer residence and a hunting lodge until WWII, is through a double barbican with a drawbridge and moat. Unfortunately the castle is currently undergoing massive renovations and remains closed to the public.Snežnik Castle's isolation makes it tough to…
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Dormouse Museum & Hunting Collection
In the 19th-century dairy building adjacent to the Snežnik Castle, resides the rather esoteric The dormouse or loir (polh) is a favourite food in Notranjska and the hunting and eating of it is tied up with a lot of tradition, which the museum explores. The fur is used to make the polhovka, the distinctive fur cap worn by Božiček, Slovenia's version of Santa Claus, and dormouse mast (fat) is a much-prized machine oil.
According to popular belief, the dormouse is shepherded by Lucifer himself and thus deserves its fate in the cooking pot.The hunting part of the museum is a nightmare of stuffed animals, antlers and other 'trophies' from the Snežnik-Javornik Massif and…
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Parish Church of Our Lady
Sitting atop a gentle slope 200m north of Cesta 4 Maja, the Parish Church of Our Lady (Župnijska Cerkev Sv Marije) is the only real attraction right in Cerknica. To reach it, walk up the street called simply Tabor, which runs to the east of the shopping centre.
The church sat in the middle of a fortified settlement - the ramparts and two towers, built to withstand Turkish raids in the late 15th century, remain intact. On the Latin plaque in the wall, the number 4 of the year 1472 is written with a loop - the top half of an 8 - because 4 was considered unlucky in the Middle Ages, as it still is in much of Asia.
Completed in the early 16th century, this is a hall church -…
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Križna Cave
Križna Cave, about 7km north of Snežnik Castle and a kilometre or so after you turn off the main road from Cerknica, is one of the most magnificent water caves in the world. It is 8.8km long and counts 22 underground lakes filled with green and blue water as well as a unique 'forest' of ice stalagmites near the entrance. The dry part of the cave, which includes a short boat ride, can be toured without booking in advance.
To go as far as the Kalvarija chamber by rubber raft via 13 lakes (around €25 to around €29), you must contact the guide named Alojz Troha, in Bloška Polica (house No 7) near Grahovo, in advance (041-632 153). It's a four-hour tour if you elect to do…
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Rakov Škocjan
Protected Rakov Škocjan is a 6km-long gorge lying some 5km west of Cerknica. The Rak River, en route to join the Pivka River at Planina Cave, has sculpted 2.5km of hollows, caves, springs and Veliki and Mali Naravni Most, the Big and Little Natural Bridges. There are lots of hiking and biking trails through and around the gorge and the area surrounding it is a protected country park. To the south lies the Snežnik-Javornik Massif, including its tallest peak, Veliki Javornik (1268 metres).
From Rakek train station, you can reach the gorge on foot in about an hour.
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Lake House Museum
About 2.5km south of Cerknica is the village of Dolenje Jezero, where you will find the Lake House Museum, with a 5m by 3m, 1:2500 scale working model of Lake Cerknica, showing how the underground hydrological system actually works. There's also an ethnological collection.
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Valvasorjev Hram
This very basic place opposite the tourist office serves hearty dishes like jota (bean soup) and klobasa (sausage) as well as pizza, and has its own wine cellar.
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Pizzeria Glaž'k
This basic pizzeria is up a gentle slope 200m north of Cesta 4 Maja and across from the 16th-century Parish Church of Our Lady. Set lunch is a bargain at around €3.
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Riding Lessons
Kontrabantar Farmhouse in Dolenja Vas, 2km southwest of Cerknica, has horses and offers riding lessons, as well as tours by coach around the lake.
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Mercator Supermarket
In the Imam shopping centre west of the centre. There is a smaller Mercator at Cesta 4 Maja 50, diagonally opposite the tourist office.
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Notranjska Regional Park
Headquarters of the 22,810-hectare park 100m north of the tourist office.
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Mercator Supermarket
In the Imam shopping centre west of the centre. There is a smaller Mercator at Cesta 4 Maja 50, diagonally opposite the tourist office.
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Riding Lessons
Kontrabantar Farmhouse in Dolenja Vas, 2km southwest of Cerknica, has horses and offers riding lessons, as well as tours by coach around the lake.
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