Pazin abyss

Pazin Abyss is an extraordinary natural attraction that has left Dante Alighieri, Jules Verne and many others who had the opportunity to see this unique work of nature, at a loss for words. In the town where the most striking example of karst landscape evolution in Istria and wider is to be seen, around a hundred metres below the largest and best-preserved medieval fortress in Istria, the largest Istrian underground river – Pazinčica flows. On its course the Pazinčica forms a number of smaller and larger cascades among which the most attractive are the Pazinski and the Zarečki krov.

 

The Abyss can be visited by a short walk along the educational walking trail (length 1,1 km, start at bridge Vršić). If you are an adrenaline addict, you can enter the abyss accompanied by experienced speleologists and explore the underground world in an exciting Caving Adventure or fly over it on a Zip Line.

 

The legend of the origin of the Pazin Cave

 

In ancient times, when giants lived in Istria along with people, huge lakes and swamps stretched in the north of Istria. Elsewhere, the landscape was dry, without streams or springs, so people asked the giant Dragonja to help them water the land. Dragonja harnessed the oxen and pulled a wide furrow from the lake to the sea with one stroke. Then a river was created, which the giant named after himself, Dragonja. And he did not stop, but the next day he created an even more beautiful river, which he named after his wife Mirna. Then he plowed a third time. When he reached the walls of the Pazin castle with his plow, the wife of the Pazin captain began to speak to him from the window. She made fun of him for pulling a shallow and winding furrow. Ban Dragonja got very angry and offended, so he raised a plow and chased the oxen home. The unfinished furrow filled with water, which soon began to flood the Pazin basin. The water rose all the way to the top of the walls of Kaštela, threatening to flood the entire town. The frightened citizens of Pazin started wailing, crying and begging Dragonja to save them from perdition. Ban Dragonja listened to them. He pounded the ground with his huge foot, right under the cliff on which the Castle stood. With a terrible noise, the earth opened up and a huge pit appeared, which swallowed the immense water. Thus, instead of the third river, the meandering Pazinčica was created, whose water is still lost without a trace in the abyss of the Pazin Cave.