English description.
Predjama Castle, locally known as Predjama Grad, lies in the village with the same name, north west of the town of Postojna in Slovenia.Predjama Castle was probably built in the 12th century but was first mentioned in the second half of the 13th century. It was built in an area that was controlled by the town of Aquilea but was contested by the Counts of Gorizia. In 1398 Aquilean troops sieged and set fire to the castle. Later on knights from the East-Tyrolean city of Lienz became owners of the castle, which they called Luegg Castle. So they called themselves Lords of Lienz and Luegg
In 1478 the castle became the property of the knight Erazem. In 1483 he killed a marshall Pappenheim at the Vienna court during an argument. This marshall was however a relative of the Austrian Emperor so Erazem fled to his castle to escape punishment. The castle was then sieged on the Emperors orders by Gaspar Ravbar, Lord of Triest. Ravbar tried to starve Erazem to death but was surprised to notice that Erasmus seemed to have an unlimited supply of fresh food. Finally Erasmus was killed by a cannonball. Later it became known that Erasmus had gotten his food through a secret passage through the caves.
In 1567 the castle was bought by Hans Kobenzl, an Austrian knight from Kärnten. He rebuilt and enlarged the castle and it is mostly the result of this building campaign that we see today. His descendants remained owners of the castle until 1810. Two more owners followed until the castle was confiscated by the state after World War II.
Predjama castle is located in the middle of a 123 m high, overhanging, limestone cliff, in the entrance of a cave. Beneath the castle the Lovka stream runs into another cave. There is also a smaller cave which was used as horse stables. This cave gives access to the underground cave system which can be visited but only in small groups led by a guide with the use of special gear that can be rented there. We did this and it was fantastic. Truly recommended! Also the interior of the castle can be visited for a small fee and is really interesting, because you get to see how well the castle was adapted to the cave and the rock face.
Actual timetable of visits: here
Near the cache there is also the little Church dedicated to "Mater Dolorosa":
The small Gothic Mater Dolorosa church in front of the castel was built in the 15th century. Its main attractions are frescoes from the 15th century and a Baroque altar.
Virtual visit of Predjama castle |
Slovenski opis
Približno 10 km od Postojnske jame je eno najslikovitejših cudes clovekove zgodovine v Sloveniji – Predjamski grad. Že vec kot 700 let kraljuje v 123 m visoki skalni steni - mogocen, izzivalen in nezavzeten.
Grad je bil prvic omenjen leta 1274. Pod naravnim skalnim obokom visoko v steni so v velikanski duplini ostanki tega prvotnega gotskega predjamskega gradu Jama ali Luegg, ki so ga sezidali oglejski patriarhi. Luegerji, kot so jih tudi imenovali, so bili deželnoknežnji fevdniki in vitezi Predjamski.
Tako v 15. stoletju, ko je v gradu živel Erazem Predjamski, ki je bil vitez, pred katerim sta nekoc trepetala tako Trst kot Dunaj, gradu kot ga poznamo danes in ga povezujemo z Erazmom Predjamskim, še ni bilo.
Erazem je bil znamenit clovek. Lep, mlad in obetaven, sin tržaškega glavarja Nikolaja, stotnik cesarjeve telesne straže Friderika III. Avstrijskega. Cesar Frederik III. se je 1461 zapletel v vojno z legendarnim ogrskim kraljem Matijo Korvinom in marsikateri avstrijski stotnik se je pridružil modernemu kralju. Med njimi je bil tudi Erazmov najboljši prijatelj Andrej Baumkircher iz Vipave. Cesar je dal Baumkircherja ubiti, kar je Erazma prizadelo. Na enem izmed cesarskih sprejemov se je zgodil škandal - maršal cesarske vojske Pappencheim je vstal in grdo govoril o Baumkircherju, Erazem pa ga je zaradi tega izzval na dvoboj, v katerem ga je ubil. Pred mašcevanjem cesarja se je odpravil v Predjamo, a ne da bi se skrival - svoj mec in grad je ponudil v službo Matiji Korvinu. Iz Jame so madžarski konjeniki pod Erazmovim vodstvom kar dvakrat napadli Trst.
Zaradi teh dogodkov in zato ker se je Erazem Predjamski pridružil kralju Matiji Korvinu, je cesar ukazal tržaškemu glavarju baronu Gašperju Rauberju, naj mu izroci “roparskega viteza” živega ali mrtvega. Tržaški glavar je tako zacel oblegati Jamo.
Tudi po dolgotrajnem obleganju gradu niso mogli zavzeti, med drugim tudi zato, ker se je Erazem med obleganjem s hrano oskrboval preko skrivnega rova. Ker Erazma niso mogli premagati drugace, so podkupili enega izmed njegovih mož, da ga je izdal. Prižgal je sveco na oknu Erazmove sobe in to je vodilo tržaške strelce, ki so Erazma zasuli s kamnitimi kroglami. Potem ko so Erazma leta 1484 ubili, so grad Habsburžani požgali. Ker pa so Erazma hoteli ubiti tudi kot zgodovinsko osebo, so naokrog raznesli zgodbo o roparskem vitezu, ki so ga ubili na stranišcu.
Kasneje je grad padel pod upravo plemenitih Oberburgov in Purgstallov. Leta 1567 je dal nadvojvoda Karel Predjamo v najem baronu Janezu Cobenzlu, ki je grad dvajset let kasneje odkupil. Že leta 1570 je grad dozidal in preuredil ter zgradil renesancno poslopje, stisnjeno ob navpicno steno pod jamskim gradom. V takšni obliki se je grad obdržal do danes. Leta 1810 je Predjamo podedoval grof Mihael Coronini-Cronberg, od leta 1846 do konca druge svetovne vojne pa je bil grad last rodbine Windischgrätz. Po vojni je bil grad nacionaliziran, v njem pa je bil urejen muzej, ki je odprt do danes, v njem pa je prikazano srednjeveško življenje grašcakov.
V Jamo pod današnjim Predjamskim gradom je možno vstopiti po treh poteh. Najbolj znan vhod je skozi Konjski hlev, v katerem so odkrili sledove iz mlajše kamene in bakrene dobe, pa tudi iz rimskih casov. Pot v podzemlje vodi do Glavnega rova. Posebna zanimivost jame je Imenski rov, v katerem so ohranjeni podpisi obiskovalcev od 16. stoletja dalje. Ta povezuje Glavni rov s Fiženco, ki ima vhod nad gradom in se spušca 600 m dolgo v podzemlje. Zaradi lege in ugodne temperature so v njej zanimivi prebivalci - netopirji, zato vstop v jamo v casu njihovega zimskega spanja ni mogoc. Ozki Erazmov rov, 37 m dolg, nekdaj zazidan, danes pa spet odprt, zahteva od obiskovalcev nekaj plezalnih spretnosti in dodatno opremo. Iz Velike dvorane se lahko drznejši obiskovalci z vodnikom podajo po Stari jami do Vetrovne luknje, po umetnem prehodu v Crno dvorano ali po Vzhodnem rovu do sifona Belšcice.
Virtualni ogled gradu |