Predjama Castle, Slovenia 2019

This unusual castle is located 9 km (5.6 mi) from Postojna. It was built in the early 13^th century in a rock cavern high on the cliff. At that time, safety was paramount. It was more important than comfort living. Predjama Castle is absolutely impregnable. It is attached to the rock wall that is almost vertical. A small drawbridge connects the castle with the world. Underneath the cliff, there is a natural arch and a river runs through it.

Whoever built the castle in the first place cleverly utilized the environment to their advantage. Hidden behind the castle walls is a system of caves that provided an escape route in case the castle was taken. Openings in the rock were used to pour boiling oil on attackers. Other holes served as lavatories. The force of gravity removed human waste that fell in the river below and got carried away. The river provided water supply. Additional water came from the rain that got collected inside the caves. The kitchen had a fireplace located under a natural tunnel which served as a chimney. A stone sink with a drain is handy placed on the outer wall.

The current structure dates back to the 16^th century. When you enter the castle you see that the outer walls are manmade and the inner walls are just rock. It is damp and cold inside but the castle provided much needed safety.

In the back of the castle there is a series of caves that lead outside.

Over the centuries, the castle changed owners many times. The most famous of them was Knight Erazem of Predjama, a Slovenian Robin Hood, who lived in the 15^th century. Erazem robbed rich caravans and supposedly distributed the loot between the poor.

One day Erazem killed a marshal who happened to be a relative of the Austrian Emperor Frederick III. Erazem fled to his estate in Predjama. Emperor Frederick ordered Gaspar Ravbar, the governor of Trieste, to lay a siege Predjama Castle. Ravbar did not know that the castle was connected with the outside world through secret passages. He believed that behind the castle was solid rock and expected to starve the castle inhabitants pretty soon. This did not happen because Erazem got food supply from the nearby villages.

After one year of siege, Emperor Frederick grew impatient. Ravbar bribed a servant at Predjama who agreed to put a lit candle in the window when Erazem went to his private lavatory. This room was not protected by the thick castle walls. The besiegers fired a cannon ball into the lavatory; it collapsed and buried the knight who met an undignified death while doing his business on the loo.

This is another proof of how important the human factor is for any security in all times,

On the following morning I walked to the house of the kind man who gave me his umbrella and left it at the front door. Nobody was at home. Branco drove me to the station from where I caught the train to Ljubljana.