Hotel Rakov Škocjan

User Review:

• Rakov Škocjan PEACEFUL and brekfast on the garden in the middle of forest. Between Cerknica field (Cerkniško jezero) and Planinsko polje is located the picturesque carsic valley of Rakov Škocjan. The creation of this 6 km long karsts valley is the result of the junction of two types of valleys: 'gable end' valley, which is the source of the river and the 'blind' valley where the river flow underground. In the upper part of the valley is the Little Natural Bridge, the remains of a tunnel, and about 2,5 km down the river Rak is the Great Natural Bridge. The Rak river flows from the Zelške cave. Thearea of Rakov Škocjan has been protected a protected regional park since 1949. There is a natural trail that leads trough the park. It is marked with descriptions at the each station - but only with texts in the Slovenian language The valley got its name from the church of St. Kancijan, which is abandoned and now lies in ruins. Past The first written records of Škocjan date from the 15th century. The diary of a tax collector of the ''Haasberg Village Court'' (Haasberg Castle near Planina), dated 1526, states that St. Kancijan Church contributed a small silver goblet and a gilded saucer. After which Rakov Škocjan is named. The first description of the Rak valley can be found in the Glory of Duchy of Carniola written by Janez Vajkard Valvasor from 1689. In the 19th century there were stone sawmills along the Rak- Zelška, Rak and Modec- in that order moving downstream from the hollows of the Zelške jame. Following the example of the early explorers, such as Valvasor, Steinberg, Nagl and Schmidl, the fame of Rakov Škocjan, especially of the then little known upper part of Rak which its Little Natural Bridge (Mali naravni most) and Zelške jame, was spread by engineers building the railway from Vienna to Trieste in 1853. At the start of the 20th century these natural treasures were also discovered by tourists.
• The description was provided by Ladi