TheKarst Plateau or theKarst region (Slovene:Kras,Italian:Carso), also locally calledKarst, is akarst plateau region extending across the border of southwesternSlovenia and northeasternItaly.
It lies between theVipava Valley, the low hills surrounding the valley, the westernmost part of theBrkini Hills, northernIstria, and theGulf of Trieste. The western edge of the plateau also marks the traditional ethnic border betweenItalians andSlovenes. The region gave its name tokarst topography.[1] For this reason, it is also referred to as theClassical Karst.
The plateau rises quite steeply above the neighboring landscape, except for its northeastern side, where the steepness is less pronounced. The plateau gradually descends from the southeast to the southwest. On average it lies 334 m above sea level. Its western edge, known as theKarst Rim (Slovene:Kraški rob), is a continuation of theUčka mountain range in easternIstria, and rises to the east and southeast ofTrieste, ending in steep cliffs betweenAurisina andDuino. Many interesting geological phenomena occur along the Karst Rim, including the picturesqueRosandra Valley (also known as Glinščica).
Because the Karst steeply descends towards theAdriatic Sea, it is less exposed to the beneficial climatological effects of theMediterranean. In the past, the main vegetation on the plateau wasoaks, but these were replaced bypine forests in the 19th and 20th centuries.Forests now cover only one third of the Karst. Starting in theMiddle Ages, the plateau suffered radical deforestation for economic reasons. Although it is often said that much of the wood for the closely spacedpiles that support the island city ofVenice came from this region, this is unlikely. Venice perhaps used the wood for naval timber. The most radical deforestation occurred in the first half of the nineteenth century due to clear-cutting by local farmers and conversion of the land into pastures for goats and sheep.[2]
The Karst is famous for itscaves. In Slovenia, they includeVilenica Cave (the oldestshow cave in Europe),Lipica Cave,Divača Cave,Kačna Cave,Postojna Cave, andŠkocjan Caves (aUNESCO World Heritage Site), andGrotta Gigante in Italy (the largest show cave in the world).
Most of the Karst is located in theSlovenian Littoral, covering an area of 429 square kilometres, with a population of about 19,000 people. The Karst as a whole has exactly 100 settlements. The town ofSežana is the center of the region on the Slovene side of the border. The main rural centers are the settlements ofDivača,Dutovlje, andKomen.Štanjel is a picturesqueclustered settlement at the top of the northern rim of theplateau; its houses are tightly clustered around Turn Hill, giving it the appearance of amedieval town. On the Italian side of the border, important settlements includeOpicina,Duino, andAurisina.
Natural conditions, including thebora (Slovene:burja) wind, and the local way of life all shaped the elements of Karstarchitecture, creating simple but well-defined forms. One of the main tourist centers in the area isLipica, with itsstud farm (the home of theLipizzan horse breed) and other tourist facilities.
The vast majority of the inhabitants of the Karst Plateau are ethnicSlovenes. Traditionally, only the villages of San Martino del Carso and Poggio-Sdraussina (in the municipality ofSagrado) has been inhabited byFriulian speakers, the villages of Polazzo (in the municipality ofFogliano-Redipuglia), Vermegliano and Selz (in the municipality ofRonchi dei Legionari) byVenetian speakers, and the town ofDuino has been inhabited for long by a mixed population, while all the rest of the region was almost entirely Slovene-speaking from the Middle Ages until the end ofWorld War I, after which some thousands Italians moved in the region while it was entirely under Italy's sovereignty, and again from the late 1940s and during the 1950s, whenIstrian Italiansfleeing from Yugoslavia were settled in Karst villages in the Province of Trieste, especially in the municipality ofDuino. As a consequence, today an estimated one fifth of the population of the Karst Plateau is Italian speaking, while the rest is mostly Slovene speaking.
The Slovenes in the region speak two closely relatedSlovene dialects, both belonging to theLittoral dialect group. In the southern part of the plateau (in the municipalities ofDivača andHrpelje-Kozina, and the southern part of theMunicipality of Sežana, in the Italian municipality ofMonrupino, and in most of the Slovene-speaking areas of the municipality ofTrieste), theInner Carniolan dialect is spoken. In the northern part (the northern part of the Municipality of Sežana, in the Slovenian municipalities ofKomen andMiren-Kostanjevica, in the Italian municipalities ofSgonico,Duino-Aurisina andDoberdò del Lago, as well in some eastern suburbs ofTrieste, likeBarcola), theKarst dialect is spoken.
The Karst is renowned for its strong redwine, known asteran,prosciutto and its traditional cuisine, which is a mixture ofMediterranean andCentral European cuisine. The traditionally producedKarst prosciutto, a sort ofdry-cured ham, isprotected at the European level.[3]
Prominent persons that were born or lived in this region include the poetsSrečko Kosovel,Igo Gruden,Ciril Zlobec, andBranka Jurca, social activistDanilo Dolci, architectMax Fabiani, paintersAvgust Černigoj andLojze Spacal, writersAlojz Rebula,Igor Torkar, andBogomir Magajna, theologianAnton Mahnič, politiciansDrago Marušič,Josip Ferfolja, andMajda Širca, economistMilko Brezigar, and actressIta Rina. The picturesque Karst landscape inspired numerous artists who were not from this region, including the poetsRainer Maria Rilke,Alojz Gradnik, andEdvard Kocbek, essayistsScipio Slataper andMarjan Rožanc, writersItalo Svevo,Fulvio Tomizza, andSusanna Tamaro, and film directorJan Cvitkovič. Many artists and authors settled in the area, includingJosip Osti andTaras Kermauner.
Municipalities that are completely or partially in the Karst include:
Historically, the region aroundPivka,Postojna andIlirska Bistrica also used to be considered as part of the Karst. This subregional identity is still documented in the late 17th century, but it weakened in the later period, replaced by anInner Carniolan identity.
45°42′N13°52′E / 45.700°N 13.867°E /45.700; 13.867
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