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Lucid Daughter of the Mountains
by Blaž Komac
Your ears would be filled with noise. Fear and excitement would
let you open your eyes no sooner than a few long seconds, once
your body got accustomed to the new circumstances. You are now
flying, the ground approaching with abrupt speed. Above you
is the dark blue of the sky, beneath you spreads a labyrinth
of valleys fading out into a large basin. A broad band winds
from there to the blinding orange glow of the Adriatic Sea.
Eventually you get to distinguish its colour, which fades from
silver to green-blue ... Before you know it takes your breath,
and almost at the same time, the sky of your parachute unfolds
over your head in a violent clap. Time starts ticking again
with the usual speed, and in the middle of the plain you recognize
your family, who are waiting for you. You have landed in Bovec,
a town of 1,600 inhabitants in western Slovenia, in the heart
of the Julian Alps. The place is a popular winter (Mount Kanin)
and summer (river Soca) sports resort, and an excellent starting
point for a trip in the mountains.
Passing through Bovec are the main roads that connect the neighbouring
plains and valleys. They were carved into the core of the Julian
Alps by three sisters, whose story is narrated in a Slovenian
tale: the rivers Sava, Drava and Soca. In ancient times, the
road running through Bovec used to connect the Roman town of
Aquilea and the northern province of Noricum, while today it
connects the western part of Slovenia and two neighbouring countries.
Who would imagine that Bovec is not much farther from Venice,
which on a clear sunny day can be seen from the mountain tops
of the Julian Alps, than it is from Ljubljana, nor any farther
from Austria's Klagenfurt (Celovec) than it is from Nova Gorica
and Italy's Udine (Videm).
The Bovec area is part of the picturesque region of Zgornje
Posocje (Upper Soca Valley), where, unlike the northern part
of the Julian Alps along the river Sava, the valleys are deeply
carved inside limestone mountain chains. Due to the vicinity
of the sea, the waters flowing in this region have great erosive
power. Over millions of years, the limestone mountains, which
have gradually swept down like giant stairs to the Adriatic
Sea from Mount Triglav, through Krn and Kanin, Matajur and Stol,
and over the woods of Trnovski gozd and the Karst, have been
formed mighty tectonic forces. Their intensity could be felt
in the region of Posocje in the years 1976, 1998 and 2004 as
severe earthquakes caused several rockfalls in the area. The
highest mountains are nevertheless still standing strong. Their
hollowed depths are only explored by cavers. Descents on Mount
Kanin that can be easily compared to Himalaya slopes led to
the discovery of the world's deepest subterranean vertical slope
(Vrtoglavica, i. e. Vertigo - 643 m) and the world's 12th deepest
cave (Cehi II - 1,533 m). Karstic caves lead water from the
rocky mountain tops to the valleys, where it appears forming
the picturesque springs of the rivers Soca, Tolminka, and Koritnica,
and the brook Mrzlek near Nova Gorica. They are sustained by
heavy autumn rainfalls and by melting snow from the mountain
tops.
Stirring History
Apparently, man already settled this untouched mountain world
in ancient times. In the Bovec mountains typical sheep's milk
cheese is still being produced. The mountains used to provide
mineral resources that were then used in Rabelj (Raibl, Cave
del Predil) and in the Soca Valley. In the search for food,
people with the emperor's permission would peddle throughout
the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, although illicit hunting was
also very frequent. Still, it was the local shepherds and poachers
as perfect mountain guides and experts of the region who contributed,
through the writings of Kugy, Tuma and others, to raise people's
awareness about this land's significance, which has only recently
managed to spread beyond a strictly local level. Some 90 years
ago the land between the steep mountains along the river Soca
and the Karst was the stage of one of the major battles in history.
Recounting this dark period in the local history is the rich
collection of the world-famous Soca Front museum in Kobarid.
Poet Simon Gregorcic, who was born in Vrsno, foresaw the horrors
of the First World War back in the second half of the 19th century
in his poem Soci (To the Soca): "...Cold steel shall slash over
your land as you run red with blood unmanned."?
Natural and Cultural Diversity
Due to the great significance of its natural resources, of the
wonderful natural and culturally diverse landscape - overgrown
due to lack of use and cultivation, as well as to ever more
people leaving the land - this 82 sq. kilometre large region
of the Julian Alps is protected by the act on the Triglav national
park. The information centre of the park, as well as its museum,
which features the park's natural sights and socially important
characteristics, are located in the narrow and picturesque glacier
valley of Trenta. The recent history of the valley, its people,
its bridges and nature are immortalized in the photographs of
Jaka Cop.
The valley narrows down just below Bovec. Here, in fact, the
river So?a unites with the Boka, the spring of which soon turns
into a vivid 114-metre-long waterfall that can be admired from
the main road. The valley near Žaga makes an abrupt turn toward
the town of Kobarid. The town with 1,250 inhabitants lies on
the watershed between the rivers Soca and Nadiža, the latter
having made its way to the Adriatic Sea through the mountains
overlooking Italy's town of Cividale. The Soca, on the other
hand, chose a longer route toward the sea. Overlooking Kobarid
are the mighty walls of the 2,245-metre high Mount Krn, with
neat pathways leading to numerous sights in the surrounding
area. You can admire the Kozjak waterfall and the remains of
the Tonovcov grad, an important early Christian settlement from
the period between the 4th and 6th centuries.
The village of Drežnica, similarly to Cerkno and Cerknica, is
famous for its Carnival festivities, an exclusive domain of
unmarried men. Every man creates his own mask out of a chop
of nut tree or lime tree wood. On Shrove Saturday a parade of
masks featuring "the ugly man", "the handsome man", "the old
pair", "the man from Rezija", "the lottery", "the Carnival croaker",
"the devil", "the cock man", and "the fat man" march through
the village. Meanwhile, "the handsome" visit the local houses,
and "the ugly" fool around and chase the children of the village.
The masks gather round at the evening's final parade, with merrymaking
marking the end of Carnival. Carnival is judged on Shrove Tuesday
and is condemned for all the accidents, misfortune and trouble
of the past year. After killing it, the locals watch over it
in the tavern as it lies on a catafalque, and at midnight the
last procession takes Carnival to a final spot where it is burnt
to ashes.
Towards the town of Tolmin, the river Soca has formed a large
valley between the mountains of Krn and Mount Kolovrat on the
border with Italy. Interestingly, only the left bank of the
river Soca is populated in this track of land, as the right
riverbank only used to be important for haymaking and pasturing
due to its shady position at the feet of Kolovrat. With 3,700
inhabitants, Tolmin is an administrative, judicial and industrial
centre of the upper Posocje region. The town lies at the confluence
of the rivers Tolminka and Soca. The confluences of the rivers
Baca and Idrijca, and of Idrijca and Soca are also in the vicinity,
which makes the area a particularly important transport route.
Extremely important is the valley of the river Tolminka. Narrow
and deep gorges which are very frequent in the upper Posocje
region, mark the margins of the Tolmin valley. They are also
very frequent on the land along the rivers Soca, Nadiža and
Koritnica.
Overlooking the Tolminka valley on Mount Javorca lies the beautiful
Church of the Holy Spirit, which is open to visitors in the
summer. The church was erected in 1916 by the soldiers of the
Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and was dedicated to the people who
had died in the nearby mountains. Its interior is decorated
with magnificent ornaments, although the church is most famous
for its wooden plates representing the pages of a book. The
names of 2,808 deceased soldiers are branded onto the plates.
On the way along the river, typical Tolmin cow's cheese can
be bought on the nearby Mount Polog, where visitors can admire
the spring of the river Tolminka and observe the natural consequences
of the 1998 earthquake. The power of survival can be felt since
centuries in the village of Cadrg, whose people a few years
ago welcomed Don Pierino's community, placing the building of
an abandoned old school at the disposal of its recovering drug
addicts. The gesture literally rejuvenated the mountain people,
whose lives gained new vigour.
Soca's water is first gathered below Tolmin in the artificial
lake of the electric power plant Doblar. Down its route, the
Soca also actuates the turbines of the electric power plants
Plave and Solkan. With the exception of Solkan, these facilities,
which have been recently renovated, are a heritage of the Italian
regime between the two world wars. An obligatory lap on our
journey is Most na Soci, which is most known today for the emerald
lake that can be crossed aboard a small boat named St. Lucy.
The significance of the confluence of the rivers Idrijca and
Soca is highlighted by the remains of Roman settlement. The
area was very important during the Urnfield culture around 1,000
BC. The nearby village Slap ob Idrijci was the birthplace of
Ciril Kosmac, one of Slovenia's most significant writers from
the first half of the 20th century. Below Tolmin, the So?a loses
some of its liveliness, as does the landscape around it. We
have left the high mountain tops and are now travelling among
up to 1,000 metre high hills. Limestone now only covers the
highest hilltops, the rest of the landscape being characterised
by the less resistant flysch. The vineyards, which often extend
in latticework along the houses, point to a mild Mediterranean
climate that is only chilled by strong north winds in the winter.
Toward the Adriatic Sea
Soon we reach the town of Kanal, known for its annual jumping
event. In the nearby Anhovo is Slovenia's major cement plant.
Below Anhovo, the Soca makes its way once again through limestone
between Banjšice and Sabotin, until it reaches the Friulian
lowland near Solkan, where the closeness of the Adriatic Sea
can already be felt. The Bohinj railway, which joined us in
Most na Soci, runs through some tunnels to see the brightest
light in Solkan, where a magnificent stone bridge was constructed
a hundred years ago. The bridge crosses the Soca in a majestic,
one-piece arc, whose 85 metres of length make it the biggest
in the world.
As if the bridge had predicted the course of history, it actually
adopted the cultures, languages and peoples from the left and
the right riverbanks ages before the formation of the European
Union. It certainly is no coincidence that the main event marking
Slovenia's accession to the European Union on 1 May 2004, which
was attended by the then President of the European Commission
Romano Prodi, was held in the border city of Nova Gorica. A
famous industrial and financial centre, also popular for its
casino, Nova Gorica originated after the Second World War, after
the neighbouring city of Gorizia (also known as Stara Gorica,
i.e. Old Gorica) had fallen under Italy's domain. The two cities
are now once again merging into one. On the edge of the ethnic
Slovenian land, a place of pilgrimage originated on Skalnica,
also known as Sveta gora (Holy Mountain), similarly to Višarje
and Ptujska gora. The site is administered by Franciscan priests,
and is regularly visited by Furlanese, Italian and Slovenian
pilgrims. From Sveta gora, we can admire the southern hillsides
of the Julian Alps that we have just left behind. If the sky
is clear enough, the site offers a breathtaking view over the
Soca valley and the Gorica plain, the Goriška Brda hills, the
Friuli lowland, and the Adriatic Sea. In the far distance, the
Soca thus concludes its 140-kilometre course, gently flowing
intro the Adriatic Sea.
It was winter. I was walking along the coast somewhere near
Piran. The lapping sound of the sea waves was slogging through
the cold air. I kneeled down and reached for the pure water
in which the sun had been watching itself. For a moment, the
whiteness of the snow shone in it. As I rose, the water slipped
between my fingers and dropped onto the ground, my eye fumbled
for bright light. On the other side of the sea, far away yet
almost within the reach of my hand, were bathing the mountain
tops. Meandering among them was the blue-green line of one of
the most beautiful rivers the world had ever seen. "... Beneath
a vine I'm living now, in a land of heavenly grace, but my heart
longs to return up high, back to my mountain paradise…" (S.
Gregorcic, Nazaj v planinski raj)?.
Article abstracted from Sinfo.
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