August 27, 2022
Sentjost to Ljubljana via the Rupnikova Line (Aug. 27, 2022)
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Because I am such a glutton for history, and because Dave is willing to indulge me, I had set up ANOTHER private tour at ANOTHER obscure site; this time it was the Rupnikova Line outside of Goli Vrh with our guide Boris. The Rupnikova Line was 8 k from Sentjost up the usual massive climb so we left Sentjost at 9 am with a mission. It was a tough grind thanks to the wine pairing we indulged in the night before.
The Rupnikova Line was built by the pre-World War 2 Yugoslav government because of tensions with Italy. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia had ceded significant territory to Italy given it was on the losing side of WW1, but it also knew Italy had designs on even more of the kingdom's territory. As a result, and similar to efforts in France to build the Maginot Line, and Italy to build the Alpine Line, Yugoslavia started construction of the Rupnikova Line in 1937. It was named after Leon Rupnik, a prominent Slovene General. As things turned out, the line was never finished and proved obsolete (like the Maginot Line in France) when Germany circumvented the line by invading through Austria in April 1941. Yugoslavia was then occupied by Germany, Hungary and Italy. The king then fled to England to establish a government in exile. Interestingly, he died in 1970 in Denver at the age of 47 never having the chance to return home.
The line was planned to be an entire city for soldiers (maximum of 40,000) to live underground in a series of tunnels with only a couple of places where heavily- reinforced concrete bunkers were built above ground with gun emplacements. Today the site consists of a bunch of dark, cold (6 degrees C) dank tunnels for barracks, kitchens, water, electricity, weapons.
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During the Tito era of Yugoslavia (1945-1980) the existence of the line was kept secret but the Slovene government recently realized it was of historical interest and opened it up for limited viewing.
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The tour started slowly (Boris didn’t have the best English, but our Slovenian isn’t great either!) and it took awhile for everyone to warm up to each other. However, the excitement built when he told us we had to scale up two different ladders in the dark to get up to the bunkers.
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And, just for more excitement, we then had to crawl through a machine gun portal to get outside the bunker. Boris and then Dave slithered through in a super athletic manner. I am not sure I can accurately describe the hilarity and embarrassment that ensued when Boris and Dave pulled me by the legs to get me through the portal. Not one of my more elegant moments.
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Only after the tour did Boris report that more than half of the people on his tours refuse to go through the portal, so I felt quite vindicated for doing it, however inelegantly. We also learned we were the first Americans that had toured the line and he took copious pics of our bikes showing the effort we made in coming to visit. We learned a lot about the complicated, tragic and messy history of this area.
Following the tour we had a delightful downhill ride for 20 k followed by a 23 k ride along the 409 from Vhrnika south of Ljubljana into Ljubljana. The ride into Ljubljana was not that pleasant as its a busy road but there is a cycle lane the whole way so it was reasonably civilized.
We are staying a week in a flat in downtown Ljubljana so you may not hear from me for awhile; we are off the bike to enjoy this beautiful city and do some mainstream sight seeing!
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2 years ago
Doberdan!
Today's ride: 52 km (32 miles)
Total: 816 km (507 miles)
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2 years ago