The cross-border area of the central Karst traditionally came to life between 23 May and 7 June in the spirit of the Cross-Border Kras–Carso Geopark Week. A diverse range of free events offered visitors numerous opportunities to explore the area’s outstanding geological, natural and cultural heritage and to experience the cross-border Karst area through guided hikes, lectures, creative workshops and exploratory experiences. The series of events of the Cross-Border Kras–Carso Geopark Week was organised within the framework of the Kras–Carso II project, co-financed by the Interreg VI-A Italy–Slovenia Cooperation Programme 2021–2027.
The Cross-Border Kras–Carso Geopark Week, organised by ORA of the Karst and Brkini in cooperation with the partners of the Kras–Carso II project, once again successfully connected the Slovenian and Italian parts of the Karst, bringing participants at boutique events closer to the richness of the Karst landscape and its unique underground world.
The Cross-Border Kras–Carso Geopark Week began on 23 May in Basovizza with the special exploratory experience Become a Speleologist for a Day and a guided tour of Divača Cave, and continued with a truly distinctive interpretative walk through the village of Slivje and an exploration of the colours of Karst stone. The hike to Žabnik led participants to the Love Bench on Golac, Kregolišče hosted a dry-stone wall construction workshop, while numerous explorations invited hikers to discover the area between Pesek and Golič, the Rilke Trail in Duino, the Living Museum of the Karst, and the area above the Beka–Ocizla cave system. The Karst rock identification workshop invited participants to the Škocjan Caves Park, the creative workshop opened the doors to a borjač courtyard in Rodik, and the following day the dry-stone wall construction workshop in Kregolišče offered hands-on experience in traditional dry-stone building, inscribed on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The impressive Ferrari Garden in Štanjel, together with Natalija’s House, directed attention to the cultural heritage of the Karst pearl, while in Boljunec we listened to an engaging lecture entitled Mass Extinctions: On the Threshold of a New Catastrophic Extinction. The diverse programme concluded through stories of the Three Crosses and by learning about Karst phenomena in the area of Velike Loče.
