EIGHTH EPISODE (THE FLOODED VALLEY): Giant Ban stops work. Without the sulcus to drain the water, the  valley of Pazin floods…

THE LEGEND OF THE GIANT BAN - Sandro Glavina L’UOMO E L’OMBRA - CONCEPT ALBUM - 2015

Album artwork made by S. Glavina (the imaginary figure of the giant Ban Dragonja obtained through superimpositions and elaborations of photographic images of Pazin's Cave)

Musical ideas, arrangements by Sandro Glavina - Produced by ZenOne Reg.MTKKI15-150615

All rights reserved– Creative Commons License: Attribution - Non Commercial - No derivative works (CC BY – NC-ND)

TRACK LIST

01 - Water of the north

02 - Giant Ban Dragonja

03 - The plow of Ban

04 - The first furrow

05 - Furrow of Mirna (second furrow)

06 - The captain's wife look at the third furrow

07 - The offense to Ban

08 - The flooded valley

09 - Save our land

10 - The abyss

11 -The underground flow

Wie die Paziner Höhle entstand

Vor langer Zeit, als in Istrien auch Riesen zusammen mit den Menschen lebten, erstreckten sich im Norden von Istrien riesige Seen und Sumpfgebiete. Südlich gab es weder Bäche noch Wasserquellen, und die Leute baten den Riesen Ban Dragonja , ihnen zu helfen das Land zu bewässern. Dragonja spannt daraufhin riesige Ochsen an einen Pflug und pflügt das Land von den Seen bis zum Meer. Als er mit der ersten Furche Wasser bis ins Meer führte, entstand daraus ein Fluss, den der Riese nach sich selber benannte, Dragonja. Am nächsten Tag pflügte er die zweite Furche, indem er einen neuen Fluss schaffte und ihn nach dem Namen seiner Frau nannte, Mirna. Als er beim Pflügen der dritten Furche unterhalb der Mauern des Paziner Kastells geriet, fing die am Fenster stehende Frau des Paziner Kapitäns zu sticheln an. Sie rief ihm spöttisch zu, er würde zu flach pflügen und die Furche verliefe schief. Ban Dragonja fühlt sich daraufhin sehr verletzt und treibt die Ochsen zurück. Aus der unvollendeten Furche sprudelt Wasser heraus und der Paziner Talkessel droht zu überschwemmen. Die Paziner beginnen um Hilfe zu rufen, weinen und bitten Dragonja, sie vor dem Untergang zu retten. Ban Dragonja erbarmt sich ihrer und stößt seinen Fuß tief in die Erde, umittelbar unterhalb der Klippen über denen sich das Kastell erhebt. Mit fürchterlichem Lärm beginnt die Erde abzusacken, durch den Stoß öffnet sich eine riesige Höhle und schluckt die gesamten Wassermassen. So entstand anstatt eines dritten Flusses das schlänglige Flüsschen Pazinčica, dessen Wasser bis zum heutigen Tage spurlos in der felsigen Paziner Höhle verschwindet.

The legend of the giant Ban Dragonija

In ancient times, when Istria was also inhabited by giant beings, the north of the peninsula was an area covered by huge lakes and swamps. In the south, however, there were no streams or springs and the population asked the giant Ban Dragonja to help wet the earth. Dragonja yoked huge oxen to the plow and created a furrow from a northern lake towards the sea. At the first furrow that allowed the water to reach the sea, he gave his name, Dragonja. The following day he plowed the second furrow, giving birth to another river to which he gave the name of his wife, Mirna. While he was plowing the third furrow, which arrived under the walls of the Castle of Pazin,  the wife of the captain of Pazin  began to critic him, telling him that the furrow was shallow and all wrong. Ban Dragonja was deeply offended, stopped the work. In the furrow the water began to flow which slowly flooded the valley of Pazin. The inhabitants began to help Dragonja in his work, praying him in tears to save them from ruin. Ban Dragonja took pity on them and tapped one foot on the ground, right under the cliff on which the Castle stood. With an impressive roar the earth began to open, the strong blow created a chasm that swallowed all the water. This is why instead of a third river arose the serpentine stream today called Pazinčica, whose waters are still lost in the deep Cave of Pazin.

JULIUS VERNE and Pazin's castle and cave

The famous science fiction pioneer Jules Verne, after writing his adventurous novels such as "Around the world in 80 days" and "20,000 leagues under the seas", also found inspiration in this small place in Istria. Here in fact, precisely in Pazin's castle and cave, the illustrious writer set "Mathias Sandorf" (1885), one of the novels of the successful series Voyages Extraordinaires.