"Here is a new world, here is paradise," cheered Luka Čeč, the discoverer of Postojna Cave, from the top of the high rock face above the underground river in Postojna Cave after he had been missing for some time. In 200 years, Postojna Cave has been visited by more than 39 million visitors from all over the world.
The occasion - a compulsory stop at Postojna Cave
In April 1818, preparations for the grand visit of Emperor Franz I of Austria and Empress Karoline Auguste took place in Postojna Cave. At that time, only a few hundred meters from the entrance to the cave were known, but its beauty was already known abroad. The Empress Mother wanted to see Postojna Cave, so the imperial couple decided to stop in Postojna on their way to Dalmatia.
In mortal danger
To hang this large inscription, a large ladder was laid across the river, a board was placed on the ladder and the brave light keeper Luka Čeč set off across the "improvised" bridge with a lamp in his hand. While the others went about their work, Čeč began to climb over the rocks on the other bank and climbed to the top, risking his life. High above, he called out to his colleagues, waved and then continued on his way "into the rocks", where he eventually disappeared as the darkness swallowed the weak light of his lamp.
"We saw him standing at the top, then watched him walk on, saw the glimmer of his lamp for some time. We waited a good half hour for the return of this brave man and were very worried about him, thinking that some misfortune had befallen him," wrote Čeč's overseer Jakob Vilmar on December 19, 1823.
New world
Convinced that something had happened to Čeč in the cave, they could not believe their eyes when, after a long time, they saw the glimmer of his lamp and Čeč again, up by the lights on the rock. He shouted the words that went into the story: "Here is a new world, here is paradise" and quickly climbed down the rock and began to tell them about his new discovery, a new cave. He would have gone far into the cave, but he could not reach the end. To find his way back, he placed the broken stalactites on the ground so that their tips showed him the way out.
Endless tunnels and secrets
The stories about Postojna Cave did not end with the discovery of Čeč. They were just beginning. And absolutely all of them were a "wow": the stories about a train, about the stream and the incredible wildlife, about the dragons. Čeč's "broken stalactites" have been replaced by paths, which visitors have been using to enter the cave since 1819, when the cave was opened to tourism. Although Čeč was initially concealed as the discoverer of the cave, it became clear after his interrogation in 1823 that he was the brave man who ventured into the unknown all by himself. However, the 24 km long cave system with the longest tourist cave in Europe was not his only discovery; he also made the smallest but most important discovery.
