Gorjanci Roads and Paths through Time

Abstract

The paper deals with roads and trails that used to lead to Bela Krajina and Žumberak across the Gorjanci Ridge. Seven main routes have been identified that were sometimes more and sometimes less frequented, depending on the time and political circumstances. In all periods, however, the most important link between the regions of Dolenjska and Bela Krajina was the communication through the Vahta Pass, which gradually changed from a prehistoric path to a road. It was only in the 1880s that it underwent a thorough reconstruction, during which the most dangerous gradients were smoothed out with a series of hairpin bends.