| jerque24. 03. 2024 22:47:14 |
This time (Saturday morning) from (Lower) Planina to Grmada. There are also some surviving fortifications of the Italian Alpine Wall (my only source here) and specifically in even better condition than around Podkraj. They could actually serve as a kind of warm-up before "crawling" in the underground labyrinths around Unska koliševka. At the same time, it is also a kind of pilgrimage path with numerous shrines and churches. If none of that interests us, there are at least some nice views.
We start at the Planina parish church of sv. Marjete, where the official marked path begins. Near the church there are some parking spots and when there is no mass or other religious ceremonies, space should be easy to find.
Already when crossing the main road and the path has not yet started climbing properly, we can see our goal ahead, actually a kind of double summit; Grmada should be the left peak, although from here it is not visible that it is slightly higher than the right Kolk according to official data. The east slope is clearly very steep and the path will go somewhat around. Although there are quite a few shortcuts, it is worth sticking to the marked path (markings initially direct towards Pl. gora), because there are several interesting things along it. One of the first is border stone no. 48. By the year 1920 it is obvious that it marks the former Rapallo border and subsequent checks show that north of Planina it really "peeled off" from the main road somewhat uphill, ran right past this spot and then towards Haasbergu, splitting Planina. When we thus "smuggle" onto once "Italian" territory, the "religious" part of the path begins, which also climbs substantially while traversing the steep slope. Soon after the border stone comes a wayside shrine, then some statues of various saints (one says sv. Anton, I do not recognize the others), whose pictures I have already posted in a special thread on crosses and chapels, until we reach the junction of the path from Lepena, where there stands a newer nicely forged cross in memory of the recent epidemic.
At this fork it begins. Very soon on the right we notice some "tunnels" carved into the rock, otherwise so low that we can crawl through them at most on all fours, but I allow the possibility that they are already partly filled in. Next to them is a ditch leading to a concrete-arched hole that is already well filled in. I assume this is the least preserved fortification of the three with destroyed combat blocks. Some maps call this area Hrbce and for easier distinction I will use that name here too.
From here the path climbs further until we eventually reach the Marija church or in the cultural heritage register "Church of Mary Refuge of Sinners", whatever that is supposed to hint at. It is quite a large church for its location "in the middle of nowhere" and it seems to me that in size it does not lag behind the parish one where we started. Just a little before the church is the chapel of the Mother of God with a fairly large statue of the Crucified. At this church there is also a larger fork; from here the Jakob path goes its own way towards Santiago de Compostela 2860 km away, several unofficial trodden paths go straight towards Grmada (indeed, based on the troddenness of these shortcuts I would conclude quite a lot of visits, but on the entire path there and back I did not meet a living soul), but I continue sticking to the marked path, which from here leads along a quite nice macadam road that also winds quite a bit. The next goal is not yet Grmada.
Where the official path to Grmada branches off to the right, I continue a bit further along the road to the west and soon come across a new fortification on the right. I was unable to find out the name of the local peak under which the upper combat block lies, so I will call it Planinska gora. When we spot this combat block, we do not rush straight across the meadow to it, because a few meters further we will notice the entrance to the underground tunnels, which is open and relatively easily accessible. These tunnels probably remind many of the recently well-known Hamas ones under Gaza, but me of the time when I first seriously encountered computers and the hugely popular game Doom, where you have to fight through labyrinths of similar tunnels and along the way shoot everything that crosses your path. Well, fortunately no one wants anything from us in these fortifications, so instead of a chainsaw (ah yes, that was also one of the "perks" of the game, that you could find it in hidden rooms and then go on a rampage  ), knives and similar stuff, let's rather take a good flashlight and watch literally every step so we don't stumble over some stone on the ground or over narrow and deep drainage channels that accompany us along one or the other edge all the time. Unlike Unska koliševka, this is not a branched labyrinth; it seems like one main tunnel that suddenly turns right and we see light at the end of the tunnel and climb up the stairs... to a shaft. Aha, this is probably where the destroyed observation block with the steel dome was. Some free climber might be able to climb out here, but for the rest there is nothing left but to return the same way.
From the entrance a short climb to the combat block, where it is also possible to enter the interior. However, not very far, because the path to the two machine-gun nests is not very long, and straight ahead a welded fence stops us. Good thing, because behind it there is quite a deep shaft, and the warnings on the walls are not as visible live as they turned out on the photos. Well, obviously I was not thorough enough underground before and did not find this shaft. Outside I also wanted to find that observation post where we had to turn around before, but it seems that underground I lost my sense of orientation so much that I somehow could not "reconstruct" that position. Well, but I did find out that at least here the soldiers were provided with quite nice views around.
Now finally to Grmada. After the official branch-off I obviously turned a bit too early onto the nearest path and missed the viewpoint. But no problem. At the summit we find a concrete table (no "pointer" on it) and a box with the logbook, next to it a 3-year-old bench, and in front of it they have cut down some trees, so we can sit and admire the view of Planinsko polje. But if I look a bit at the slope, one rock a little below the summit seems to have an unnaturally flat top somewhere. Fortunately, the slope is just steep enough that with some chamois skill I manage to reach it via poorly trodden paths and it turns out that there is really an observation post there. What's more, its lens even survived the general looting of metal about half a century ago. Since I did not yet know that I would discover the path to the interior, I also took a photo inside through the lens.
Back to the top. We notice that one of the trodden paths leads over some "bulge". Already from the road earlier I noticed that there is the combat block of the third fortification, which I will call Grmada. When we circle it, we find the entrance again, but WARNING!!!, this time we really have to be careful, because soon after the entrance there is a deadly trap. If we do not have a flashlight and do not look carefully under our feet, a very deep shaft suddenly surprises us, unprotected and without any prior warnings! There is also a ladder by the shaft, but there is no point in climbing it, because later we will find a more elegant way to get to the bottom. If we push past this trap, we will not get very far anyway, because the path soon ends in a machine-gun nest.
If instead of the marked path we descend along the trodden path to the south, with some attention we will find the entrance to the underground tunnels of the Grmada fortification. Although not so dangerous, we still need to be careful not to stumble into some shallower shafts or drainage channels along one or the other edge. After a while we reach a real four-way junction. To the left we reach the bottom of the vertical shaft with the ladder. Almost certainly this is that "deadly" shaft from the combat block. If we turned right there, we would soon see daylight and reach the observation post via stairs, probably the one I already discovered just below the summit before. Or we can continue straight; the tunnel turns right after a while and via stairs we reach another similar observation post.
If we intend to return to Planina from here, it is best to continue along unofficial but well-trodden shortcuts to the south and soon reach either the Marija church or that fork by the forged cross (here the "descent" to the official path is somewhat more difficult due to the steep end). When we have already descended quite a bit and returned to the Yugoslav side of the former Rapallo border, another fork follows. The marked path goes left, but we can make a short detour here and continue straight along the Jakob path. Soon we reach the ruins of the church of sv. Duha. As far as I could find, it was burned in the spring of 1943 in fights between partisans and the "white guard" (probably still a local village guard at that time). Anyway, the ruins look picturesque today, but it is obvious at first glance that it is not very smart to linger under them. Next to the ruins stands an obviously very fresh wooden tower where we can also ring the bell. From there we descend further, soon turn left and arrive in (Lower) Planina.
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