The lucky winner was thrilled about the prize, which was presented to him by the boss of the company managing the caves, along with a sculpture of the olm, a blind amphibian living in the caves, and two memorial coins.

A consolation prize was conferred on the visitors who bought the tickets before and after the winner, Sofie Steffens of Germany and Wang Jian Qui of China. All today's visitors received jubilee post cards.

The Postojna Caves have been recording the number of their visitors since 17 August 1819, with the first official visitor being Archduke Ferdinand I.

Ever since, numerous world leaders, kings and important politicians have visited the magnificently decorated karst caves, including Slovenian President Borut Pahor, Indian Parliament Speaker Meira Kumar and Japanese Prince and Princess Akishino in the last few months, Sabina Paternost from the company operating the caves has told the STA.

More than 500,000 visitors from more than 160 countries come to visit each year, the majority of them from Italy. The number of guests from East Asia exceeded one tenth of all the visitors in 2012 and even more came this year.

Always trying to improve its services, this year the company renewed its catering offer and opened a self-service restaurant Briljant and the Modrijan Homestead.

The company which provides visitors with audio guides in more than 15 languages also became "pet friendly"; as dogs are not allowed in the caves, they can be looked after for free during the time their owners spend sightseeing.