NEŽICA WATERFALL AND PRIFARSKI JARAK STREAM
In Slovenia we have many diverse natural sights, which are not arrogantly magnificent, but modestly hidden. This also applies to tufa formations. The Prifarski jarak originates in the headwaters above the settlement of Tišenpolj, between Planica and Vrana stena at an altitude of 350 meters. In the past, there was an underground karst cave under the spring, that people destroyed because of the tufa so they used to build houses. The stream used to be more important, as people set up mills and sawmills next to it, but today it is mostly known for the 15 meters high waterfall Nežica.
The first name reveals a story that is often associated with karst springs. Large fluctuations in water content, and above all the occasional wild vomiting after downpours, stirred the imagination of the locals. The waterfall helped them explain the disappearance of a person. The story of Nežica, who fed a pair of oxen near Drežnik near Banja Loka, is also known from this pattern, and she was dragged into the depths with her cattle. After a while, however, the Tishenpoljski stream was flooded with an ox yoke wrapped in the hair of an unfortunate girl, and the uncertainty about the girl’s fate was over.
The waterfall is especially powerful at high water, but it is also worth visiting at low water, as many water jets provide a special charm of freshness. The greenery is also rich there. It is worth climbing the path along the left bank of the stream above the waterfall. The Tišenpoljski stream then reveals many very beautiful scenes, typical of tufa waters.
We talked so much about this tufa, but what is tufa anyway? It is a rock formed in rich waters and dissolved limestone. Under certain conditions, limestone precipitates on the surface, very often on plants, which it compresses into a rocky embrace, in which they decay and usually leave a very clear imprint. This makes it easy to recognize ‘petrified’ mosses and other plants. The rock is therefore porous and light, hence its name. Tufa grows with plants in this way and characteristic barriers are formed.
