Prilozje Ponds and Rožanec Mithaeum

Route Description

White Carniola statistical region (Bela Krajina) does not disappoint and even if you spend several days there, it is an inexhaustible source of truly exceptional excursions. The diversity of the landscape, historical monuments and the preservation of tradition will leave a lasting impression.

The Rožanec Mithraeum, most likely created in the second century A.D., is a shrine that was once used by believers of the ancient and mysterious Mithraic faith. At the heart of Mithraeum, which lies in a pit surrounded by dense forest, visitors can observe a relief of the god Mithras carved into a rock. He is portrayed slaying an angry bull. The scene, known as “tauroctony,” is a common motif of Mithraic art. Mithraism was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras, inspired by the Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity.

According to legend, a raven brought to Mitras (who was born out of a rock) the creator's advice to catch and sacrifice a white bull to save the earth. When the hero did so, the spilled bull's blood gave rise to vegetation, and from his seed for animals. A companion dog, a snake, and a scorpion climb up to the dying bull. The snake and scorpion want to destroy the emerging life on earth as personifications of the forces of evil. The scene of the sacrifice is accompanied by the personifications of the sun and moon, a symbol of light and darkness, and the priests Cautopates and Cautes.

In the centuries after the fall of Roman civilization, various folk tales about the unusual shrine emerged among the local population. Archaeological excavations have shown that the original ancient level of the space next to the relief was 75 cm (2 feet) lower, and there used to be a hearth, which means that believers used fire in some rituals.

In recent years, scientists discovered that pollution was causing the rock to erode at an alarming rate. This led them to create a cast of the relief, which is now on display at the Bela Krajina Museum in Metlika.

The 400-meter (437-yard) long walking trail to the Mithraeum starts in the village of Rožanec at the marked parking lot. Before entering the Mithraeum area, there is an information board. You can continue walking to St. George’s Church.

Behind the village of Prilozje, three ponds are connected to each other. Today the central and eastern ponds are used for breeding fish, mostly carp, tench, crucian carp, common bream, etc. The west pond is left to its own natural processes and represents an important natural habitat for many endangered and rare species.

The ponds used to belong to lordship in Gradac castle and were mentioned as early as 1824. The wetlands are a quiet area where observations of birds, pond turtles, dragonflies, and other animals can be held. The pond turtle is of particular interest because it is on the endangered species list and is the only autochthonous turtle in Slovenia.