At the mere mention of the Devil’s Passage, known in Croatian as “Vražji prolaz”, we are reminded of one of the circles of hell described in the Divine Comedy by renowned Renaissance writer Dante Alighieri. In fact, one would not be faulted for thinking that this narrow gorge underneath Skrad, measuring around 800 metres in length and 2 metres in width, was the direct inspiration for the world-famous work. However, Dante lived around 500 years before the first historical record of the area of “Zeleni vir” (Green Vortex), where the Devil’s Passage is located, appeared in 1884 and described the spot as an outing for only the bravest of explorers.

The Devil’s Passage is often considered as one of the most beautiful sceneries in Croatia. The Jasle stream forces its way through the narrow canyon, having eroded its stone over thousands of years to create a passage whose strong water and wild, steep rocks are beyond compare. Above it, propped on metal brackets cut into the stone, sit short bridges and stairs allowing passage. The canyon entrance is located by the mountain lodge named after the Green Vortex spring, which was declared a protected reserve of natural values in 1962. The Green Vortex Mountain Lodge is just one of a total of 16 mountain lodges in Gorski Kotar, but it is decidedly the lowest one, sitting at only 230 metres above sea level. Approximately 20 metres from the lodge, you will find the Skrad “munjara” – a hydro power plant dating back to 1922, whose construction kicked off the project of electrification of Gorski Kotar, as well as parts of the Croatian Littoral.

Above the plant sits the Green Vortex, an impressive spring located at the bottom of a shallow, spacious cave, whose entrance is framed by 70-metre-high looming steep rocks, down which flows an animated cascade in the form of shiny water curtains. The Green Vortex was named after the greenish colour of the small lake which forms within its cave. Other caves can also be found in the area, among which the unique Muževa Hižica cave, which sits above the plateau found at the edge of the Devil’s Passage. According to folk tradition, during Ottoman invasion (around 1525), some locals from the area found their refuge in Muževa Hižica. The leader of this group was a man, hence the name “Muževa Hižica”, meaning “Man’s House”. The cave is very spacious, measuring around two hundred metres in length. It is rich in deposits and at its edge, parts of which remain unexplored, sits a small lake. Some sources cite that the olm was discovered in the Muževa Hižica cave at the same time as in the Postojna Cave.