Malo zgodovine
Vsaka lepota je prepletena z legendo.
V legendo o cerkvici, na suhokranjskem hribčku, se je pritekel sam Soteski grajski gospoda. V pohajkovanju po svojih prostranih posestvih je zgubil pot do svojega domovanja. Brez GPS je taval po travnikih in gozdovih nakar se je povzpel na vzpetino, s katere je uzrl svoj Soteski gradič.
V zahvalo za svojo rešitev je dal postaviti cerkvico Sv. Petra.
Druga svetovna vojna je razmetala cerkveno kamenje po griču. Spraznila sosednje vasi Kočevskih Nemcev ter jih napotila po svetu.
Danajšnja oblika
Leseni oltar je zamenjal porušeni oltar, nebo je zamenjalo cerkvene oboke in preprosto zidana cerkvica je postala omejena na vesolje.
Nad zakristijo se vzpenja leseni stolp, ki pohodnika povzdigne nad drevje, mu vrže pogled do Alp in slovenskega simbola Triglava. Utrujenega pohodnika napolni z energijo pogled po dolini reke Krke, kjer čas teče drugače.
Idila je postavljena na zeleno plešo obdano s širnim Kočevskim gozdom.
Premražen iskalec najde, vsako nedeljo, zavetje v planinski koči.
Kako priti?
Do Sv. Petra se lahko povzdignemo z več strani. Najbolj prehojena je pot iz vasice Podgozd, kjer pohodnika spremlja križev pot. Litoželezne križe so naši predniki, ulili v dvorski livarni. Pot je srednje zahtevna in vzame 90 minut hoje. Pohodnik sledi utrjeni stezi označeni z rdečo-belimi markacijami.
Omenjeno pot lahko začnete z naselja Dvor oz. se do Podgozda pripeljete z vozilom. Na koncu Podgozda lahko parkirate vozilo, tik na začetku planinske poti. Na mapi je označeno parkirno mesto.
Pot iz Lašč nas iz Dvorske smeri vodi mimo zadnje hiše, kjer zavijemo levo na makadamsko cesto. Po cesti se držimo desno, le prvo križišče (po 1,5 km) zavijemo levo po bolj utrjeni cesti. Po približno štirih kilometrih zazremo na desni litoželezni križ. Če ste šli z avtomobilom, lahko parkirate ob cesti in se desno povzpnete na hrib.
Na Laščah lahko parkirate pred gostinskim lokalom Rojc in se peš odpravite 200m po asfaltirani cesti, nakar zavijete levo na makadamsko cesto, potem pa sledite markacijam. Začetna klančina je asfaltirana.
A little bit of history
Many beauties have some legend behind.
The legend about a small church on a hill in the region of Suha Krajina, tells about a local noble from the castle of Soteska. While he was walking around his wide lands, he went out of the track and couldn´t find the way back home. He was wandering around without a GPS signal until he arrived on a hill from which he saw his castle of Soteska.
As a thanks for his salvation, he constructed a church of St. Peter.
Unfortunately, second world scattered the church´s stones around the hill. It also made the place totally deserted, because the local inhabitants – Kočevje Germans left the place, so their villages were left abandoned.
St. Peter´s hill nowadays
Wooden altar replaced the destroyed altar and blue sky replaced church´s vault.
Above sacristy rises a wooden tower, which lifts you above the trees, offers you a nice view to the Alps and its symbol and the highest mountain of Triglav. Hikers can also get energy from the view on the valley of river Krka and surrounding primary forest of Kočevje.
Frozen hikers can get warm each Sunday in the wooden cabin up the hill.
How to get there?
You can get to St. Peter´s hill from more places. The best known and the most used trail starts from the village Podgozd and is marked by crosses. The crosses were made many years ago in the local ironworks in Dvor. The path is medium-difficult and it takes approximately 90 minutes. You just have to follow the path with white round marks with red dots in the middle.
The mentioned path can be started from the village Dvor or you can get to Podgozd from Dvor by car. You can park the car at the end of Podgozd, at the beggining of the marked trail. The parking spot is marked on the map.
The way from Lašče leads you by the last house, where you turn left on the macadam road. You keep the right hand side except for the first crossroad (after 1,5 km), where you turn left on a more solidified road. After approx. 4 km you can see a cast-iron cross on your right. If you go by car, you can park it by the road and finish the hike by foot up the hill on your right hand.
If you want to go walking from Lašče, you can park your car in front of the local restaurant, walk on the asphalt road and after 200 m turn left on a macadam road and then follow the marks.