The town of Kocevje

The main road leading from the Ribnica Valley to Kocevje takes you below the solitary, wooded slopes of Jasnica, Stojna and Slovenski vrh to Kočevsko polje.

Kočevje lies in the middle of a karst polje. Its beginning goes back to the 14th century, when the Ortenburgs began to colonize the area with German settlers. In that time a mansion was built in Mahovnik.

The “Kočevarji” (of German origin), who settled here in the 14th century, left the Kočevje region at the onset of World War II. And so these vast and dense forests became overgrown and swallowed more than 50 abandoned villages. During World War II, the leaders of the Slovene Resistance Movement had their headquarters-the so called “Baza 20”-in Kočevski Rog.

The entire region extending southwards of Kočevje almost to the state border with Croatia was a prohibited area until 1990. The main settlement in this area is Kočevska Reka in the Gotenica valley. The dammed stream in the wild valley below Kočevska Reka has created a 2km long lake, and the surrounding forests, abound in game. The whole area is so naturally preserved and no urbanized as very few in Europe.

Here we are. Hope you have enjoyed reading it, as much as we did writing it. To the next time...

From Kocevje back to Kocevska region