Nanos (plateau)

Nanos (pronounced [ˈnaːnɔs]; Italian: Monte Re) is a karst limestone plateau at the eastern border of the Inner Carniola in southwestern Slovenia.

Geography

The plateau is about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) wide and 12 km (7.5 mi) long in the northern extension of the Dinaric Alps. The highest point of the plateau is Dry Peak (Slovene: Suhi vrh, 1,313 metres or 4,308 feet). The plateau is traversed by the Slovene Mountain Trail, the oldest interconnecting trail in Slovenia. The most popular destination on Nanos and part of the trail is Pleša Peak (1,262 metres or 4,140 feet) with the Vojko Lodge (Slovene: Vojkova koča, named for the Slovene Partisan Janko Premrl, a.k.a. Vojko) below its summit. In 1987, the southern and western slopes of Nanos were declared a regional park with an area of 2,632 hectares (6,500 acres).

History

In Antiquity, Nanos was known as Ocra. Strabo reckoned it the last peak of the Alps. In the 1st century, the pass at Nanos was an important route for civilian and military traffic from Trieste (Tergeste) to Ljubljana (Emona) and beyond to Carnuntum at the Danube. It lost its importance when a faster road connected Emona to Aquileia further north in the 2nd century. Nanos is mentioned as Nanas in Johann Weikhard von Valvasor's 1689 work The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola.