A mountain, beautiful on the outside and special on the inside, has got to be Peca. It's the tallest mountain in Koroška and is shared between Slovenia and Austria as the national border stretches over its peak.
The legend under the mountain top
The legend is not only connected to King Matjaž, some say he is the legend! Close to the lodge at Peca there’s a cavern, where you can see the statue of King Matjaž. It’s actually a tunnel, a left over from mining. But the king is such a legend they’ve named the ice sculpture making contest after him, held annually at Peca. It’s called the castles of Kralj Matjaž. In 2015 it was the 23rd annual competition already, with builders coming from all over Slovenia and also abroad. With media coverage, there are even more visitors and the amusement programme with local guests makes everything even more interesting.
Reaching the mountain
From Slovenian side the most popular trails are from Mežica and Črna na Koroškem. If you prefer long hikes, you should start at the bottom, but if you prefer to see the top, without a lot of physical activity you can drive higher up. There are also several options from the Austrian part. The main difference is that you can use the cable cart to get higher, as the road is closed for cars. Peca is the eastern most peak with two thousand meters, but it’s not really a difficult climb. There is a path that includes some climbing and you’d need some equipment, but you can chose not to take that path. Anyway, you can walk/hike, or even climb, so it’s up to you. Most people visit the tallest peak – Kordeževa glava, with its 2126m. It’s a fluffy peak that reminds us of a hill, with grass and shrubs right up to the top. The next peak is Končnikov vrh (2109m) with a Knips pass between them and also has the elevation of over 2000m. Then there are two more peaks - Bistriška špica (2113m) and Veška lopa (2074m).
Specialities of Peca
The area of the mountain is a protected area named Geopark Karavanke, protected by UNESCO. It’s the first Geopark in Slovenia, but it’s a trans border park between Slovenia and Austria. Inside the mountain on its southern part (in Slovenia) there’s another attraction – the lead mine. They used to dig for lead and zinc there and is a tourist attraction today. You can explore it in many ways: walking, by train, by bicycle or even by kayak. You take the real miners train into the mountain, to experience the life of miners. The ride is about 15 minutes, which takes you some 3.5 km inside the mountain. The depth under the surface is 600 meters. During such a tour you can get to see what miners working day was like. As people always crave for something new, you can even rent a bicycle and ride around the tunnel, or even bring your own wheels. There’s a guided tour of about 5 kilometres. You enter in Črna na Koroškem and exit in Mežica. But we always crave for more, so you can even ride the kayaks in the crystal clear waters and lakes in parts of the mine flooded by water. After 1994 the water flooded the lowest parts of the mine, when they stopped pumping it out, and found its way to the surface at a certain level.
At the end of each tour there’s also the mining museum with a rich collection of minerals, ores, photos and a typical mining room. You must always use the real mining gear upon visiting – the helmets, lights and warm clothing as the temperature is always 10 centigrade. For the kayak ride you also need neoprene shoes and pants and a life saver. This magical ride is some 700 meters under the ground. And during the ride you will even encounter some white water rapids, which can flip the kayak around.
Our Peca is for us, local people of Koroška, a mountain that everybody has to visit. They say you’re not a real Slovenian if you haven’t been to Triglav, but it’s the same with Peca, as you cannot claim to be from Koroška without being at its peak. The legendary King Matjaž is resting here, with his soldiers, and as the legend say, his real cavern has opened up on its own for him to enter and closed behind them. His beard is only up to the table, but when it will be so long, it will be nine times around the stone table, he will wake up and good times will return to the region.
