The Birthplace of Luka Čeč

What used to be a modest farmhouse is believed to be the birthplace of Luka Čeč, a Postojna Cave lamplighter, who – during preparations for the emperor's visit in 1818 – discovered the deep-lying, previously unknown parts of the cave. Inside the cave, this loyal and conscientious employee, who was among other things responsible for the cave-dwelling olms, also discovered a beetle that later became the first described cave-dwelling insect and was named the slenderneck beetle. Čeč's remarkable discoveries proved crucial in Postojna Cave becoming immensely popular among visitors and researchers from all over the world.

Olms (Proteus anguinus) and slenderneck beetles (Leptodirus hochenwartii) are Postojna Cave's biggest stars. Although the slenderneck beetle was discovered by Čeč, in Latin the beetle was not named after him, but after the manager of the Provincial Museum of Carniola, Count Hohenwart, to whom Čeč had handed over the beetle for research purposes. Similarly, Čeč stayed in the background also when it came to his exceptional cave discovery; in fact, he was not recognised as the official discoverer until 20 years after his death.