Predjama Castle, Slovenia

While on our trip around Italy and Croatia we took a quick detour over to Slovenia to check out Predjama Castle.

Italy Slovenia Croatia — Italy, Croatia, Slovenia

Predjama Castle – Postojnska Castle – Slovenia

Jumping on the autostrada we made our way across the Italian Dolomites over to beautiful Slovenia. So…when entering countries of the EU be aware of the auto laws. We passed through, what looked to be closed toll station, and was quickly pulled over by the Slovenia Police for not stopping to purchase a “vignette” for the window. A Vignette registers the car annually, weekly, monthly, etc, to a certain amount and you can get one either at the toll station or at any gas station. The penalty for not purchasing a vignette can be up to or more of 800Euros. The Police officer that pulled us over was very intimidating with a thick Slovenian accent but just let us go with a warning, as I assume this happens a lot. At the next gas station we stopped and purchased the vignette, which attaches like a toll tag to the front window and then traveled freely with no further issues.

Predjama Castle in South-Central Slovenia is a Gothic style castle and 14km cave system built in the Renaissance period, against a cliffside natural rock wall, a nearly impermeable fortress designed for Erazem (Erasmus) Lueger. Predjama was first documented around 1274 by the German name Luegg and today is a great attraction and close enough to Lake Bled if you’re in need of more to do while in beautiful Slovenia.

We paid for both the Cave tour and with that allowed to tour the castle freely. You can also reserve a spot to tour the castle either online or at the ticket office. We took our time viewing the castle rooms and halls, dungeons, secret passages, hiding places and quick getaways.

“Lueger was a 15th-century robber-baron who, like Robin Hood, stole from the rich to give to the poor. During the wars between the Hungarians and the Austrians, Erazem supported the former. He holed up in Predjama Castle and continued his daring deeds with the help of a secret passage that led out from behind the rock wall. In 1484 the Austrian army besieged the castle, but it proved impregnable. Erazem mocked his attackers, even showering them with fresh cherries to prove his comfortable situation. But the Austrians had the last laugh – finally hitting him with a cannonball as he sat on the toilet. An ignoble fate for a dashing character.”
Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/slovenia/the-green-karst/sights/castles-palaces-mansions/predjama-castle#ixzz4D7LRjRgL

I won’t even pretend to tell you more, because Lonely Planet does an awesome job helping tell the story of this awesome Castle here.

Predjama Castle, Slovenia – Check it out Y’all!