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Slovenia: Osmica

The special tourist offer and the ancient tradition of the Karst is Osmica. It dates back to Charlemagne times, but it was set during the Austro-Hungarian Empire by a Maria Theresa Decree in 1784, which allowed producers of local wine to sell their products directly from their homes for a period of 8 days. It is no coincidence that the word Osmica comes from osem, which means eight in Slovene. Today, the "osmica" includes the sale of non-bottled wines with geographical origin and home-grown crops, mainly dried meat products. Osmica is set up by a winegrower at his own home, in the wine cellar or so called "borjač" (yard). Osmica places are recognized by wooden signposts and ivy sprigs on the doors, that stay fresh for eight days.

For our osmica place, Nada and me chose the Osmica na Lehtah in a village Lipa, but before we started eating and drinking, we did almost 100 kilometres on the road bikes, exploring the Karst Plateau.

 

Nice roads with a little traffic lead us past many vineyards

 

The parish church in Pliskovica is dedicated to Saint Thomas. We can also find the monument dedicated to WW2, where the 1. battalion of Kosovel brigade captured and disarmed 273 Italian police officers and 11 fascists. That happened on 19th October 1943.

WW1 military cemetery, where around 2700 soldiers of different nationalities are buried, is located near village of Dutovlje.

 

We visited Lipica, the origin of the Lipizzan horse.

The Lipizzan breed as known today was fully developed in the time of Maria Theresa, whose husband was greatly interested in horse-breeding.

 

The Valley of Our Lady of Lourdes and a shrine. Karel Grünne, the manager of Lipica stud farm, ordered to erect a shrine carved in the natural stone with the statue of Our Lady, after he recovered from his critical illness.

After the Second World War, the farm had only 11 horses. All of the others had been confiscated by the Germans during the war.

 

One of the doors were left open so we sneaked into the closed stud farm area. We visited Velbanca, the stable for stallions.

The oldest site plan of the Lipica estate dates back to 1817. A comparison with today’s area of the cultural monument reveals that the boundary of the area is identical to that of 1817. Back then, the estate was surrounded by a dry-stone wall which has been preserved until today. The border dry wall is slightly taller than the characteristic Karst dry stone walls. Read more interesting facts: http://www.lipica.org/en/discover-lipica/interesting-facts

The Škratelj Homestead in Divača is an ethnological monument that represents not only architectural and regional cultural heritage but is also is the birthplace of the first Slovene film star Ida Kravanja (stage name Ita Rina). Inside we can find the Museum of Slovenian Film Actors.

Back on the road

Karst landscape view from Štanjel

The Ferrari Garden (Slovene: Ferrarijev vrt) is a major landmark in Štanjel. It was designed by Maks Fabiani at the request of the physician Enrico Ferrari in the 1920s.

The Ferrari garden is located below the village, next to a villa, and houses a small pool with an island which is connected by a bridge to the shore.

 

Štanjel is one of the oldest settlements in the Karst Region, known for its old village center. It was named after the patron saint of the church, Saint Daniel. Due to its strategic location, the hill was already populated in prehistoric times and was fortified in antiquity. The first written mention of the area dates back to 1402.

 

During World War II the village served as a smaller base for the German occupation units, and was heavily damaged during the Allied bombing at the end of the war.

Sveto was attested in written sources in 1347 as Suta and is the site of a mass grave from the period immediately after the Second World War. The local church is dedicated to Saint Giles.

Back in Lipa, ready for some real food and drink.

 

Home stuff in Osmica na Lehtah was delicious

The party went on through the night

Riding on Karst Plateau in 2018 - Garmin Connect

GeoCaches found (all received a visit by trackable items "Kelsoboom 3,000 Finds Geocoin", TB65PHH and "Travel Bug Egypt", TB5KF1E):
- The WWI Military Cemetary of Dutovlje, GC28M9V
- Lipica - Northern entrance TB&GC Hotel, GC3YHTY, where I retrieved trackable item ""Reggio di Calabria, Italy" Unite for Diabetes Travel Bug", TB1ATEC and it stayed with me for the rest of the day
- Open Church, GC1BPTV
- Lipica - Southern entrance, GC3WRC1
- Škrateljnova domačija, GC6FH8E
- Ferrari, GC1HBDT
- STANJEL, GC1WA9P