Koper – caves and castles

Unfortunately, by the time the ship arrives at Koper from Zadar on the Viking Empires of the Mediterannean cruise, the vacation is getting close to its end. Only one more stop, in Venice, and that final stop is always a rush to get off the ship, get to the airport and make your way home. Of course, extra days can be added to any cruise, but we usually decide (as we did here) to add days to the start and just head home at the end.

Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Venetians all left their mark on Koper, once the Venetian Republic stronghold and now Slovenia’s only port city. As such, the city presents itself from the ocean as much more of a working port than perhaps some of the earlier ones on the voyage.

The city as well is much more of a mix of modern and old with a two-level elevator to take passengers from the dockside to street level, which you can see in this next picture.

At this destination, we had decided to visit Postojna Cave & Predjama Castle on an optional tour. Strange as it might seem, we had visited the caves way back in 1971 when my wife and I drove all round Europe in an old and not very reliable Fiat 600 and ended up in what was then Yugoslavia. Not surprisingly, the caves seemed pretty much the same!

But first, we visited the magnificent Predjama Castle, a breathtaking Renaissance treasure built into a vertical cliff. Its
setting is truly magnificent and must have impressed visitors ever since its construction in 1570.

As you will see in this second image, there is an interesting little building built lower down with its own entrance – every bit of the cave was utilized, it seems:

We toured the castle with our guide, but I was intrigued by some of the tableaux that had been laid out to show how life might have been lived back in those days. There was one room with a woman embroidering in front of a window overlooking the gardens. I thought that would look perfect as a watercolor rendition:

And what did the garden look like from those windows? I did a pastel drawing of one of the old windows to show just how it might have looked!

Then off to Postojna Caves. Here is the entrance today:

And this is the one photograph I took in 1972 (on 35mm slide film). Film was expensive in those days!

On this visit, I did take many more images inside the cave! You ride in on a small train and then walk around the caves themselves on paved paths – intriguing lighting and many unusual shapes, but maybe just one photo will give you an idea of what it is like!

We had time to stroll around the grounds of the cave as well and I thought this small church above the river looked attractive:

Back in Koper, we took the time to stroll around the old town. There are still some great old buildings that have survived the years but this place didn’t really have the same charm as some of the other ports on our cruise. It was definitely a good idea to see some of the sights in the countryside of Slovenia.

And then finally, we took our final glimpses of the city as we prepared to depart, to pack our bags, and have our final dinner on the Viking Star before disembarking in Venice early the next morning.

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