The Bloke Plateau () is an extensive bowl-like plateau in southern

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, part of the traditional region of

Inner Carniola Inner Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the southwestern part of the larger Carniola region. It comprises the Hrušica (plateau), Hrušica karst plateau up to Postojna Gate, bordering the Slovenian Littoral (the Goriška, Gor ...

Geography

The Bloke Plateau measures approximately long and wide. It ranges in elevation between and . Together with the Rakitna tectonic block, the plateau is delineated by two distinct Dinaric faults. According to the geographer Anton Melik, the Bloke Plateau is a remnant of a Pliocene peneplain in the middle of the rejuvenated terrain. Poorly permeable karst limestone and Triassic dolomite (in the northern part of the plateau) conditioned the formation of typical surface watercourses (Bloščica Creek and Blatnica Creek), which are bounded by wet grasslands and minerotrophic fens. Lake Bloke (), a reservoir, lies near the settlement of Volčje. Water flows below ground from the Bloke Plateau into

Lake Cerknica Lake Cerknica (; ) is an intermittent lake in the southern part of the Cerknica Polje, a karst polje in Inner Carniola, a region in southwestern Slovenia. Description The lake, oriented in the Dinaric direction from north-west to south-east, ...

. The plateau's many hills divide it into the Bloščica Valley and Ločica Valley (or Farovščica Valley), which join to form the Bloke–Fara Karst Field (). There are 45 settlements on the plateau, administratively belonging to the

Municipality of Bloke A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

. The Bloke Plateau is accessible from several directions, especially from the Ljubljana and Littoral directions via the A1 Freeway and the town of Unec via

Cerknica Cerknica (; , ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 120.) is a town in the Karst region of southwestern Slovenia, with a population of 4,0 ...

and from Lower Carniola via Ribnica and Sodražica. Points of interest in the area include Cross Cave (),

(),

Snežnik Castle Snežnik Castle (, ) is a 13th-century castle located in the southwest part of the Lož Valley near the settlement of Kozarišče in the municipality of Loška Dolina, Slovenia. Its name is coincidentally identical to a univerbation based on ...

(), and Rak Škocjan Park (a protected landscape area; ). Geographically, the Bloke Plateau also extends to Snežnik Regional Park.

History

The Bloke Plateau was first mentioned in written documents in 1260, and its central settlement of Nova Vas in 1341. The territory was settled in the first millennium BC by the

Iapydes The Iapodes (or Iapydes, Japodes; ; ) were an ancient people who dwelt north of and inland from the Liburnians, off the Adriatic coast and eastwards of the Istrian peninsula. They occupied the interior of the country between the ''Colapis'' (Kupa ...

(an Illyrian tribe). During the Roman era, a road led across the Bloke Plateau from

Aquileia Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river Natiso (modern Natisone), the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times. Today, the city is small ( ...

and the

Kvarner Gulf The Kvarner Gulf (, or ; ; or ) sometimes also Kvarner Bay, is a bay in the northern Adriatic Sea, located between the Istrian peninsula and the northern Croatian Littoral mainland. The bay is a part of Croatia's internal waters. The largest is ...

toward the

Pannonian Basin The Pannonian Basin, with the term Carpathian Basin being sometimes preferred in Hungarian literature, is a large sedimentary basin situated in southeastern Central Europe. After the Treaty of Trianon following World War I, the geomorpholog ...

. Remains of a defense wall and a Roman tower near the village of Benete testify to this history.

Cultural heritage

Culturally, the Bloke Plateau is known as the place where skiing originated in Slovenia,Perko, Drago, & Milan Orožen Adamič. 1998. ''Slovenija: pokrajine in ljudje''. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, p. 412. and a cross-country skiing competition is held there every year. The Bloke Plateau has long been crisscrossed by trade routes connecting the interior of

Carniola Carniola ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region still tend to identify with its traditional parts Upp ...

, especially

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region in Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south an ...

and

, with

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

References

External links

Bloke Plateau on Geopedia
* {{coord, 45, 46, 34, N, 14, 30, 26, E, type:mountain_region:SI, display=title Karst plateaus of Slovenia Karst fields Plateaus of Inner Carniola Municipality of Bloke