The Way of St. James or El Camino de Santiago is a common name for several ancient pilgrimage routes that led from different places to the sanctuary of St. Jacob in the Spanish Compostela. The Slovenian Way of St. James has four branches. The most famous branch starts in the east of Slovenia, in Slovenska vas on the border with Croatia, and leads all the way to the western border, to Trieste in Italy. The seventh and eighth stages of the Primorje branch of the trail take place in the area of the Municipality of Postojna.
Stage 7: Logatec–Planina–Studeno (21.4km)
It starts in Logatec and leads hikers across Planina Field towards Planina, where there is a Church of St. Margaret. During the autumn floods in Planina Field, when the road leading to Laze is flooded, it is necessary to make a detour, which lengthens the route by an hour and a half. When you arrive to Planina, the path leads you to Planinska gora to the pilgrimage Church of St. Mary and then via Lohača and Strmca to the village of Studeno.
Stage 8: Studeno–Podraga (31.3km)
From Studeno, the Way of St. James winds through the villages of Belsko and Bukovje to Predjama. Here you can see the famous Predjama Castle, which is also associated with the legend of the robber knight Erazem Predjamski. From Predjama, the route will take you to Šmihel pod Nanosom and then to the foothills of Nanos to the village of Strane, where you can visit the village Church of St. Cross, and see the thickest and, according to popular tradition, the oldest Slovenian yew tree. Given the size of the trunk, according to foresters, it could be 500 to 600 years old. However, folklore claims that it was planted as early as 350 AD. A tree more than 11 meters tall stands in front of the village church, and its circumference is 385 centimeters. According to a legend that circulates among the locals, even saints Cyril and Methodius preached under the yew tree when they traveled across the Balkans to Rome.
From here on, the Way of St. James offers you a choice of two directions: right along the slope of Nanos to the Church of St. Brice and to the top of Nanos, from there it descends to the Church of St. Hieronymus and further down to the Church of St. Nicholas above Podnanos; the other direction goes through Veliko Ubeljsko along Rebrnice to Podraga in the Vipava valley.
