The Way of Saint James

The Way of Saint James or El Camino de Santiago is the mutual name given to several ancient pilgrimages leading from different places to the cathedral of Saint James the Great, his burial place in the Spanish town Compostela. The Slovene part of the Way of Saint James has four stages. The most famous route starts in the east of Slovenia in Slovenska vas close to the Croatian border and leads all the way to the western border, to Trieste in Italy. Stages seven and eight of the Primorska section run through the area of the Municipality of Postojna.

Stage Eight: Studeno – Podraga (31.3 km)

From Studeno, the Way of Saint James winds through the villages of Belsko and Bukovje to Predjama, where you can check out the famous Predjama Castle also linked to the legend of the robber knight Erasmus from Predjama. From Predjama, the trail takes you to Šmihel pod Nanosom and then to the village Strane at the foot of Nanos, where you can take a look at the largest and, as the legend goes, the oldest Slovene yew tree in front of the church of Saint Cross.

At this point, the Way of Saint James offers you two directions. The left one takes you along the slope of Nanos to the church of St Brice, to the top of Nanos and then descends towards the church of St Jerome and even lower to the church of St Nicholas above Podnanos. In the second direction, the trail runs through Veliko Ubeljsko along Rebernice to Podraga in the Vipava Valley.