wandering

Embraced by the Mt. Čaven

EMBRACED BY THE MT. ČAVEN

KAMNJE
Our journey shall take us towards the many pictouresque villages at the foothills of the Mt. Čaven. Gather in the village Kamnje, which is located only a few kilometres from Ajdovščina (in the direction of Nova Gorica). The first records that mention the parish of Kamnje date back to the 14th century. The Kamnje Manuscript, which originated in the 16th century, was written in the Glagolitic alphabet and is the only such text that has ever been found in the Goriško region. The manuscript bears witness to the importance of the parish in the past. In fact, the parish was not only under the protection of the Emperor, but also some kind of a spiritual centre of the Vipava Valley. You should also visit the Church of St. Michael, which lies at the end of the village. Parish registries from 1630 onwards and one of Grohar's paintings, the Holy Family, are being kept in the priest’s house.
Another thing worth seeing is the bridge that connects the hamlet of Brith to the hamlet of Pirjevče. When it was built in 1885, it used to be the biggest object in the whole Vipava Valley.

The Tilia Wine Cellar is located in the hamlet of Kukanje near the village of Kamnje. A wine-tasting could be arranged there (Telephone No.: +386 5 364 6683, Mobile Phone No.: +386 31 399 748) or you could simply have lunch at the Sivi Čaven Inn (tel.: +386 5 368 8108) in the village of Potoče. After lunch, visit the village of Vrtovin.

VRTOVIN
The village of Vrtovin is a complex of houses that lie on the area between the main road on the south and the steep slope named of the Mt. Kucelj. In the past, the many streams were used for the running of mills and sawmills. Many valuable items from different historical periods are kept in the Baroque church in the centre of the village, one of them being a wooden statue from the 15th century, or better from the late Gothic period, that represents the Holy Mary and the baby Jesus. A cistern in the shape of a tower was built just under the south face of the Sv. Pavel’s Školje Plateu, above the village of Vrtovin. With its 11 metres, the tower is the tallest piece of Roman architecture that survives in our area



ČRNIČE
Continue our journey by visiting the village of Črniče, an ancient village and parish. A special building rises among others – the Huh’s Mill with its own mill and oak grove. The village has its own post office and a reading club, which was opened during the period of national awakening. There is also a military cemetery from World War I.

FOOTPATH TO TABOR
We shall also take a walk to the small hamlet of Tabor that lies at the top of a cliff. The walls were built in order to protect the villagers from the Turks and Venetians. The hamlet of Tabor is an important archaeological site. The hamlet’s walls used to be arranged in an irregular, rectangular shape, with cross-shaped towers at its corners. Inside the walls lied a small village with a chapel.
The footpath you are going to walk along leads through a gorge with a torrent named Ravenščak in the bottom. The torrent flows through many waterfalls and cascades, stone river-dams and pools of different sizes. The two most interesting features are the biggest waterfall that is 10 metres high and the pool named Čaber, which lies just above the waterfall. There is also a 50-metre-deep cave at the centre of the gorge called by the locals Evil Hole. It is nice to take cover in the cave when it is hot outside, since the water cools down the air in the gorge.  Take a look at some remains of the old mill in the upper part of the gorge. The mill was in use until some years ago. As you’ll step out of the gorge, walk down a paved path until reaching a crossroads, where you turn right and climb up to the hamlet of Tabor. To return to your starting point, take the road that begins southeast of Tabor and leads through what once used to be an olive grove. Before reaching the stream, you will also get to see a chestnut grove.

The footpath is not difficult to walk and is suitable in both warm and cold weather. The walk takes about two hours.

Later on, have dinner on the Arkade Tourist Farm.