View source for Vilenica Cave

{{Short description|Cave in Sežana, Slovenia}}
{{Expand Slovenian|Vilenica|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox cave
| name                = Vilenica
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| photo               = Vilenica 1810.jpg
| photo_width         = 
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| photo_caption       = Depiction of Vilenica Cave by the Austrian painter [[Ferdinand Runk]] (1810)
| map                 = Slovenia
| label            = Vilenica Cave
| label_position   = right
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| map_caption         = Slovenia
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| coords              = {{coord|45|40|28|N|13|54|42|E|region:SI_scale:10000_type:mountain|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coords_ref          = <ref>[http://wikimapia.org/38693636/pl/Jama-VILENICA Jama VILENICA cave(s)] [[Wikimapia]]</ref> 
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'''Vilenica Cave''' or '''Vilenica Cave at Lokev''' ({{langx|sl|Jama Vilenica pri Lokvi}}) is the oldest [[show cave]] in Europe. The first tourists to the cave were recorded in 1633. It is located next to the village of [[Lokev, Sežana|Lokev]] in the municipality of [[Sežana]] on the [[Kras Plateau|Karst Plateau]] in southwestern [[Slovenia]].

==Natural environment==
Vilenica Cave is more than {{convert|1300|m}} in length, with a depth of {{convert|180|m|abbr=on}}, but tourists are only allowed into the first {{convert|450|m|abbr=on}} of the cave.

== History ==
Until the mid-19th century it was known as the biggest, most beautiful, and most frequently visited cave of the Classical Karst. It attracted artists such as [[Ferdinand Runk]] and [[Peter Fendi]], who was awarded a gold medal in 1821 for his oil painting of the cave. Later it was surpassed by [[Postojna Cave]].

Since 1986, the annual [[Vilenica International Literary Festival]] has taken place in the cave and in the towns and villages of the [[Karst]] and elsewhere. The event most commonly happens in the beginning of September. The central part of the festival is the conferral of the [[Vilenica Prize]] for literature by the [[Slovene Writers' Association]]. The award is bestowed in the cave's [[Plesna Hall]] ({{lang|sl|Plesna dvorana}}) on an author from [[Central Europe]] for his or her achievements in literary and essay writing.<ref>[https://vilenica.com Vilenica.com]. The Vilenica Cave homepage published by the Sežana Caving Society, in Slovenian, English, Italian and German.</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of deepest Dinaric caves]]
* [[List of longest Dinaric caves]]

==References==
{{commons category|Vilenica Cave}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Sežana}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Show caves in Slovenia]]
[[Category:Arts centres in Slovenia]]
[[Category:Municipality of Sežana]]
[[Category:Caves of the Slovene Littoral]]

{{Slovenia-geo-stub}}