365 2015 Med Krasom in krasom Kras sodi med najbolj prepoznavne in najbolj pri- ljubljene slovenske pokrajine. Marsikdo sanja o tem, da bi imel na Krasu hišo ali vikend, marsikdo si je te sanje tudi že uresničil. Pokrajina, podnebje, kulina- rična ponudba in domačini so tisti magnet, ki vleče na jugozahod Slovenije. Vendar pa Kras ni zgolj na- šteto, Kras ima tudi bogato, pestro in razgibano zgo- dovino, ki smo jo pri Kroniki skušali (znova) osvetliti in približati širši javnosti. Najprej je bilo treba razložiti razliko med Kra- som in krasom. Kras z malo začetnico je pokrajina z značilnimi kraškimi pojavi in obsega skoraj polovico današnjega slovenskega ozemlja. Na veliko veljavo slovenskega krasa v svetovnem merilu opozarja dej- stvo, da so slovenski izrazi za kraške pojave prešli v mednarodno znanstveno krasoslovno terminologijo. S čim podobnim se ne moremo pohvaliti v nobeni dru- gi znanstveni disciplini. Prav zaradi velikega pome- na slovenskega krasa za razvoj discipline Slovenija v krasoslovnih krogih še zmeraj velja za zibelko panoge. Kras z veliko začetnico pa je predvsem politič- ni pojem, ki se je skozi stoletja nenehno spreminjal. Meje so bile gibljive zlasti v srednjem veku, ko je bilo območje Krasa torišče interesov med takratnimi ak- terji, med plemiškimi rodbinami višjega in nižjega ranga, oglejskim patriarhom in pozneje tudi Bene- ško republiko. Kras je imel tedaj veliko večji obseg od današnjega in je zajemal tudi Pivko, Brkine in notranjska kraška polja (Planinsko in Cerkniško po- lje ter Loško dolino). Srednjeveški Kras je imel celo nastavke za razvoj v samostojno deželo, a se je ta pro- ces iz različnih razlogov ustavil in Kras je bil pozneje upravno razdeljen med deželi Goriško in Kranjsko ter ozemlje mesta Trst. Danes s pojmom Kras ozna- čujemo območje med Vipavsko dolino na severu in vzhodu, Matarskim podoljem na jugu in Tržaškim zalivom na zahodu. Pri snovanju pričujoče številke so bile geograf- ske omejitve nujne. Pri tem smo izhajali iz ožje de- finicije krasa in se omejili zgolj na današnji Kras z veliko začetnico, torej območje, ki obsega današnje občine Sežana, Divača, Komen in Hrpelje-Kozina. To je bilo naše izhodišče, čeprav se tega nismo strogo držali, ampak smo glede na historično razširjenost pojma Kras posegli tudi v druge današnje slovenske pokrajine, s pritegnitvijo Proseka in Devina pa celo v drugo državo. Nobene pokrajine, pa naj bo še tako določena z mejami, se ne da obravnavati ločeno od širše okolice, tako tudi Krasa ne. To se lepo vidi npr. pri cestnih povezavah, kjer šele z upoštevanjem širše slike dobimo jasen pregled nad območjem. Če smo se morali omejiti geografsko, pa omeji- tev nismo imeli pri tematiki. Čeprav je poudarek res na zgodovini, pa smo k sodelovanju pritegnili tudi strokovnjake drugih ved. Tako kraška Kronika po- leg zgodovinopisnih člankov ponuja tudi etnološke, arheološke, geografske in tudi muzeološke prispev- ke. Pri tej odločitvi nas je vodila misel, da je treba k obravnavi vsake kompleksne tematike, kar Kras ne- dvomno je, pristopati interdisciplinarno. Seveda bi se dalo tudi h kraški številki pritegniti še druge vede in osvetliti še druge tematike, a to naj ostane za kakšno drugo priložnost. K sodelovanju smo povabili tudi dva muzeja, ki sta tesno povezana s Krasom oz. krasom, to sta Mu- zej krasa iz Postojne in Muzej slovenskih filmskih igralcev iz Divače, ki sta predstavila svoje delovanje in svoje poslanstvo. Hkrati pa objavljamo tudi pri- spevek, ki spodbuja k nastanku novega, t. i. ekomu- zeja na Krasu. Z izborom pisane palete člankov, ki obravnavajo različne vidike Krasa, smo ponudili ne le zanimivo branje, pač pa tudi dovolj gradiva za na- daljnje raziskovanje in za nove ideje pri snovanju tu- ristične ponudbe na Krasu. Miha Preinfalk odgovorni urednik Kronike 366 2015 Between the Karst and karst The Karst is one of the most recognisable and popular landscapes in Slovenia. Many dream of hav- ing a house or a holiday cottage in the Karst, many have made this dream come true. The landscape, cli- mate, cuisine and local people are the magnet that attracts most visitors to the southwestern part of Slovenia. But the Karst is much more than that: it has a rich, complex and variegated history which the authors of Kronika have (again) tried to illuminate and bring closer to the general public. First, it was necessary to explain the difference between the Karst and karst. We use the term karst in reference to a landscape that has characteristic karst features and covers nearly one half of the present- day Slovenian territory. The significance of Slovenian karst on a global scale is reflected in the fact that Slo- venian terms for karst features have been introduced in international karstological terminology. No other scientific discipline can boast of such success. Due to the important role that Slovenian karst has played in the development of the said discipline, Slovenia is still regarded as the cradle of karstology. The Karst, on the other hand, is a political con- cept that has for centuries been subject to constant change. Boundaries were especially flexible in the Middle Ages, when the Karst area witnessed the tug of conflicting interests among different actors—noble families of different ranks, the Patriarch of Aquileia and later the Venetian Republic. In that period, the Karst covered a much larger area than today, includ- ing Pivka, Brkini and karst fields of Inner Carniola (Planinsko and Cerkniško polje and Loška dolina). The medieval Karst was even endowed with all the necessary conditions to be transformed into an in- dependent province, but this process was stopped for various reasons and the Karst was later administra- tively divided into the provinces of Gorizia, Carniola and the territory of the City of Trieste. Today, the term Karst is used in reference to the area between Vipavska dolina in the north and east, Matajursko podolje in the Gulf of Trieste in the west. Some geographic limitations were necessary dur- ing the preparation of the current issue. We derived from the narrow definition of karst and kept our fo- cus on the present-day Karst, i.e. area encompassing the present-day municipalities of Sežana, Divača, Komen and Hrpelje-Kozina. This was our starting point. However, rather than strictly following the set course, we also took account of the historical pre- sence of the term Karst and thus expanded our re- search into other present-day Slovenian provinces, as well as areas across the national border, such as Prosecco/Prosek and Duino/Devin. No province, no matter how well defined by borders, can be treated separately from its broader surroundings, not even the Karst. This is especially evident on the example of road connections, where we can only get a clear view of the area once we see the big picture. Unlike in terms of geographic coverage, no re- strictions applied to the selection of themes. Even though the focus of our attention was on history, experts of other scientific disciplines were invited to participate as well. Thus, apart from historiographical articles, the current issue of Kronika also offers eth- nological, archaeological, geographic as well as mu- seological contents. This decision was based on the idea that every complex theme, which the Karst un- doubtedly is, requires an interdisciplinary approach. A number of other scientific disciplines could, of course, be used in the making of the karst-themed issue of Kronika to illuminate additional themes, but we shall leave it for another occasion. Our invitation to collaborate was also accepted by two museums which are closely linked to the Karst or karst – i.e. the Karst Museum in Postojna and the Museum of Slovenian Film Actors in Divača – and which presented their activities and mission. And finally, the current issue of Kronika also features an article that encourages the establishment of the so- called ecomuseum in the Karst. Owing to its broad selection of articles addressing different aspects of the Karst, the current issue of Kronika provides not only an interesting reading but also sufficient mate- rial to conduct further research and develop new ideas regarding the tourist offer in the Karst. Miha Preinfalk Managing Editor of Kronika