Dragonja (crossroad) - Sveti Duh (Sveti Peter) (northwest path)

Access to the starting point:
First, drive to Koper, and from there continue in the direction of Pula via the Dragonja border crossing. A few 100 metres before the state border, at the traffic lights, turn left (straight Border crossing Dragonja, right Sečovlje) in the direction of Dragonja. Continue through Dragonja, then at the next crossroads continue slightly left in the direction of the villages of Sveti Peter and Nova vas. From this junction, follow the main road for another 100 metres, then reach a triangular junction where the road to Sveti Peter branches off to the left, the road continues straight ahead through the valley Dragonja, and a bus stop can be seen on the right. At this crossroads, the footpath to St Peter's or the Church of the Holy Spirit begins. There are no parking spaces at the starting point.

Path description:
From the bus station, continue towards Sv. Peter and Nová vas on the ascending asphalt road. After a few 100 metres, at the first left turn to the right, the south-eastern path branches off, and we continue along the asphalt road, which leads us past a sign marking the end of the Dragonja settlement to the right turn. About a minute further on from the bend, there is a small asphalted canal across the road, at which a marked footpath branches off to the left (the branch is not marked), which returns to the asphalt road at a stop sign, slightly higher up. The road is reached at a right turn, but we leave it already in the middle of the bend, as the markings lead us to the left onto a side dirt road, which crosses the slopes further on. After a few minutes, the dirt road turns into cart track, and we carefully follow the fairly frequent markings at a few small crossroads. Passing a few hunting observation posts, the trail gradually passes into a more compacted forest, where it still continues without any major changes in altitude. A few more small forks follow, and then the trail leads past two streams, which dry out in the dry season, but are quite picturesque and full of beautiful rapids in the period after heavi rains. After crossing the second stream, the path becomes a little steeper and passes from the forest into the lane of bushes, so that we occasionally get some views of the other side of the Drnice valley, where we can see the village of Korte. Higher up, olive groves are reached, past which a partly rocky cart track leads. Above the grove, a fine view of the nearby and distant hills opens up, and the path takes us left at a signpost indicating the route of descent to the wider cart track. After rain, the rather muddy cart track leads us quite steeply upwards for a few minutes, then turns right and leads us past a small kala to an asphalt road and consequently to the "first" houses in the village of Sveti Peter. During the climb through the village, we will also reach one of the sights of the place - Tona's house (Tona's house was mostly built in the 18th and 19th centuries, but today it is part of the ethnological collection in Sv. Peter).
At the crossroads above the house, turn left and walk past a few more houses, including the Vojvoda Farm, where you can buy homemade olive oil, and the Cultural Centre of Sveti Peter, to the crossroads by the fountain. At the fountain, continue to the right (if you go straight ahead at the fountain and then after a few metres to the right, you can reach the 18th century St Peter's Church) in the direction of the villages Krkavče and Dragonja. The way ahead leads along a slightly narrower asphalt road, which soon turns off to the left onto the already mentioned marked footpath. From this crossroads onwards, there are no more markings, but there are no problems with orientation, as we follow the ascending asphalt road all the time, which quickly leads us to the cemetery church of the Holy Spirit on a 253-metre-high hill, from which we can enjoy a beautiful view, which, with good visibility, extends from the sea to the Alps.
Description and pictures refer to the situation in 2014 (November).

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