Tourism

Slovenia in Superlatives: Boka Falls, Soča Valley

The waters that collect in the Kanin massif emerge near the village of Žaga in the Soča Valley from the outflow passage of a karst cave as a torrential stream called the Boka. The Boka Falls are the most powerful and abundant waterfall not only in Slovenia but also in Europe. They are also Slovenia’s highest waterfall. According to data that vary slightly between sources, the waterfall is over 140 metres high and 18 metres wide. It is characteristically two-tiered, with the torrent plunging in two stages, first for more than 100 metres and then for a further 30 metres. After about one kilometre the Boka stream flows into the river Soča. The height of the waterfall is still increasing, since the force of the falling water continues to erode its base. It carries the greatest volume of water in spring, when the snow melts in the Kanin massif, and in autumn, when rainfall is heavier.

A rather grim legend tells of a young man and woman who were gathering mushrooms in the forest and knocked at the door of a house where an old woman lived. She offered them food but had other intentions. By chance the young man discovered that she was sharpening an axe in the yard. She meant to kill them with it and then roast them. He therefore hid behind
the door and waited with a stick. When she entered the house, he struck her hard and then finished her off with the sharpened axe that had been intended for them. The old woman’s blood turned into the waterfall that we know today as Boka.

Janez Bogataj