8 Awesome Facts About Slovenia
Are you planning to visit Ljubljana and Bled, but looking for other possible sights worth seeing? Check the article about 8 awesome facts about Slovenia.
In recent years, Slovenia has become an increasingly popular destination for travelers from all over the world. Foreign travel guides have been increasingly highlighting Slovenia as one of Europe’s most beautiful destinations.
Slovenian tourist attractions are wide spread throughout Slovenia, so they cannot be allocated to only one area. In the following article we will present eight interesting facts about Slovenia. We could write a hundred or more fascinating facts about Slovenia, but we simply couldn’t shrink all the Slovenian beauty into one page.
Mount Triglav is the highest mountain, with its 2864 meters. Mt. Triglav is located in the heart of Triglav National Park and it is part of the Julian Alps. The word Triglav in Slovenian language means that it has three heads. The three-headed form of the mountain is most visible from Bohinj area and it consists of Mali Triglav, the main peak and the Šmarjetna glava. Interesting fact about Slovenia is that the shape of Mt. Triglav is also represented in the Slovenian coat of arms. The symbolism of the mighty Mt. Triglav is in the national consciousness of all Slovenes, because it represents the country’s pride.
You can climb on Mt. Triglav from different directions, some of which are suitable for hikers who do not have as much alpine experience as other hikers, who are accustomed to more difficult challenges. The easiest hiking tour to Mt. Triglav is from the direction of Krma valley and from the plateau Pokljuka. The most difficult ascent is located in the famous north wall. In spite of everything, mountain has its traps and dangers; therefore it is best to book a tour with an experienced mountain guide, in order to make your tour more care-free. With guided tour you will only have to focus on the natural beauties surrounding this mighty mountain.
Interesting fact about Slovenia is that there are currently around 10,200 registered caves, and every year they discovered about hundred new ones. It is anticipated that the cavers can explore a total of 30,000 caves. Just over 20 caves are opened to visitors, which mean that there are many karst underground caves mysteriously hidden from external visits. Striking karst landscape with its disappearing river streams has carved beautiful stalactites, stalagmites and cave halls. Put yourself to the test in the Slovenian underworld and book your caving tour or cave tour with kayaks.
Postojna cave is the longest karst cave system near Postojna and the largest in Slovenia. It is referred to as the cradle of speleobiology – biological sciences about the life of animals in the underworld. The most famous representative of the animal species in the cave is the human fish, which is also a symbol of the Postojna cave. The Postojna Cave was visited by the first guests in 1819. The Postojna Cave is visited by 700 000 visitors per year. With more than 38 million curious people from all over the world, it is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Europe and in the world.
Another interesting fact about Slovenia is that on its territory, which measures 20230 square kilometers, the country has almost 27,000 kilometers of rivers, streams and other waterways. One third of all watercourses in Slovenia are torrential, 46 rivers are longer than 25 km, while the 100 km long rivers are Sava, Drava, Kolpa and Savinja. A large part of the Slovenian waters flows towards the Black Sea. More than 80 percent of the Slovenian territory belongs to this water catchment area, while the rest belongs to the Adriatic catchment area.
Facts about Slovenia also include the features of the Sava River, which is fully 947 km long and is the longest river in Slovenia with its 221 km across the Slovenian territory. Sava River has two main water sources, where Sava Dolinka is commonly considered as its main source. Sava Dolinka springs in Zelenci, the beautiful emerald green lake in Rateče. Come with us for a one-day tour where you will also see this alpine wonder, the river spring of Sava Dolinka in Zelenci.
In Slovenia, a country with two million inhabitants, there are 90,000 people who are actively engaged in beekeeping. Slovenes are a nation of bees; therefore beekeeping in Slovenia has a special status of agricultural activity. The specialty of Slovenian beekeeping is also the fact that in the mid-18th century started to appear the unique colored wooden beehives with motifs of folk narratives. These beehives with true folk art gallery are helping bees with orientation. Such bee hives also help beekeepers to distinguish between colonies.
Interesting fact about Slovenian beekeeping includes Apis mellifera carnica, which is a Latin name for Carniolan honey bee. Carniolan honey bee is an indigenous Slovenian subspecies of bee. This bee, which is a symbol of hard work and diligence, is the most popular honey bee in Slovenia, as it produces the most indigenous Slovenian honey. That’s why Slovenian beekeepers want to preserve these species of bee and therefore fight against all harmful substances that injure the honey bees. Slovenian people also have a well-known proverb that says: “Priden kot čebela”, which means hardworking as a honey bee.
Slovenia is definitely a heavenly wine-growing region. On its small territory on the sunny side of the Alps, grape vines have been growing for at least 2,600 years. As many as 48 varieties of grape vine are grown in all Slovenian vineyards, where some of them are also Slovenian autochthonous varieties. Specific geographical position with a mixture of climatic influences of the Mediterranean, the Alps and the Pannonian Plains, is creating the production of quality Slovenian wines. Otherwise, Slovenian winemakers are successfully presenting their wines abroad, where they also achieve numerous awards for their best wines. If you would like to taste some of the best Slovenian wines, you can attend two-hour wine tasting experience in Bled.
In the central part of the old town center in Maribor, in front of the Old Vine House, still grows the oldest grape vine in the world. This grape vine is 400 years old and is therefore listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest grape vine in the world. The old vine symbolizes the rich wine culture of Maribor and Styria, wine-region parts of Slovenia. The old grape vine variety is žametovka or modra kavčina, which represents one of the oldest domesticated noble vine varieties in Slovenia. Due to the age of the vine and the small quantities of wine produced, the wine is very valuable. Slovenia also gave wine bottles from this old grape vine to the Pope and to the Queen Elizabeth II.
What do films Death Train, Winnetou and The Chronicles of Narnia have in common? They were all partly filmed in Slovenia. Interesting fact about Slovenia is that the second part of the popular franchise The Chronicles of Narnia from 2008 was filmed in the upper Posočje region, in the River Soča valley. For the highlights of the film, they also built a wooden bridge across the Soča River, which, after the end of the filming, unfortunately deteriorated. The creators were looking for natural beauties similar to New Zealand, where the first part of the film was shot. The Soča River, with its fantasy green emerald color, invites visitors from all over the world. Join us on a journey, where we will explore the Soča River, queen of all Slovenian rivers, and shoot your perfect movie.
The film creators, creators of commercials and music videos are looking for locations that will surely excite and captivate their viewers. In Slovenia, these idyllic locations and at the same time Slovenian attractions can be found in the Logar Valley, Piran, in Lake Bled and at Predjama Castle. Film makers also choose Slovenia, because they can film in different locations on the same day. In the first half of the day they are filming between the hills in Pomurje region and in the afternoon they are already filming in the Julian Alps or on the Slovenian coast.
Interesting fact about Slovenia is also that it has the second largest ski-flying hill in the world, named after its constructors, brothers Vlado and Janez Gorišek. The Gorišek Brothers’ ski-flying hill was built in 1969 and it is the largest among all ski jumps in the Nordic Center Planica. Every year, the World Championship ends with the last set of ski jumping in Planica. From 1969, Planica hosted 33 individual World Cup races and 10 World Cup races in the summer. Planica also hosted 6 World Championships in ski jumping. Another interesting fact about Planica is that here more than 40 world records have been achieved, which is more than in any other place around the world. In Planica, for the first time in history, ski jumpers flew over 100 and 200 meters. One of the best Slovenian ski jumper Peter Prevc holds the record, when he flew 248.5 meters on the Gorišek Brothers’ ski-flying hill in 2015.
Planica is a typical alpine valley in the northern part of the Julian Alps in Slovenia. It is located about two kilometers west from town Rateče and borders with Upper Sava Valley. So, here you will also find Nordic Center Planica and the highest Gorišek Brothers’ ski-flying hill. Nordic Center Planica includes seven ski jumps and other facilities, like a sightseeing platform and an Alpine museum. Planica is really worth seeing as it is one of the most visited attractions in Slovenia. Another interesting fact about Planica is that on the day of the World Cup in 1985, it broke the record in the number of visitors. On that Saturday, as many as 100 thousand people from all over the world gathered here to watch the World Cup.
The town of Bled is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Slovenia, both for foreign and native guests. Everyone wants to see Lake Bled, Bled island with a magnificent church and try the famous cream cake, also called “kremšnita”. Another interesting fact about Slovenia is that it has only one island, Bled island. You can visit Bled island, with a small wooden boat named pletna. Traditional pletna boat has one boat captain who is using a special rowing technique, which means that he stands while rowing with two paddles. Taking a trip on Lake Bled with pletna boat can be very romantic, because pletna boats also take a lot of grooms and brides onto Bled island, where they exchange their wedding vows in the St. Mary’s Church.
Around the Lake Bled, you can also take a ride with fijakerji, the traditional open carriages. Traditional carriages can take you around the city of Bled or to the Bled Castle. On the hill, high above the city stands the mighty Bled Castle. Due to its position, Bled Castle offers the most beautiful views on the town of Bled, Lake Bled and the surrounding alpine landscape. Even more beautiful and more magnificent views can only be seen if you look at it from a bird’s perspective. That’s why we invite you to unforgettable tandem paragliding over Lake Bled.
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The best thing ever. I took my old boss to experience Slovenia in one day. And boy I am happy I chose Altitude Activities to do so. Our tour guide Jerry was awesome, funny and you could just see he knows what he is doing. We went to the canyon of Jermanka and even though there is a drop almost 45m high we felt extremely safe. Overall highly suggest going canyoning with Altitude Activities