Ojców National Park
| Ojców National Park | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Location: | Lesser Poland , Poland | ||
| Next city: | Ojców and Krakow | ||
| Surface: | 21.46 km² | ||
| Founding: | 1956 | ||
 |
|||
 |
|||
The Ojców National Park ( Polish Ojcowski Park Narodowy ) is a national park in Poland , which is located in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship 16 km north of Kraków ( Kraków ).
General
With its total area of 21.46 km², the national park in the Kraków-Częstochowa Jura is the smallest of its kind in Poland. It includes the valleys of two small rivers - Prądnik and Sąspówka - as well as the adjacent areas of the Jura plateau. The mountain landscape formed by Jura limestone is typical of the national park. The action of karst water in the Ojców valleys has created a picturesque mountain landscape, which is also interrupted by steep gorges up to 120 m deep. The block limestone found in the region is insensitive to weathering and creates residual mountains and individual rocks in the valleys that are worth seeing ( e.g. Maczuga Herkulesa "Club of Hercules", Igła Deotymy "Needle of Deotyma" and many more).
caves
The limestone formations of the Jura are up to 200 m thick and strongly karstified . In the national park there are over 400 karst caves , some of which were inhabited prehistorically . The longest caves in the park include the Łokietek Cave (320 m), the Ciemna Cave (230 m) and the Zbójecka Cave (189 m).
The Jaskinia Ciemna ( dt. "Dark Cave"), which was already examined in the 19th century, contained layers of the Middle Paleolithic with typical tools ( wedge knives ) of the Neanderthals . Numerous animal bones were also found in the cave layers, which are considered to be the hunting remains of Neanderthals. Further excavations were carried out by Stefan Wincenty Krukowski and Stanisław Kowalski.
flora
The diversity of the relief and microclimate has also influenced the number and diversity of flora. There are around 1000 types of vascular plants with different ecological needs and origins, including around 50 mountain species and over 100 heat-loving species that are otherwise more typical of southern Europe.
fauna
The wildlife in the national park is also extremely rich. So far, about 5500 animal species have been confirmed. Of these, 4600 are insects (1700 different beetle species and 1075 butterfly species ). However, the actual total is estimated to be over 12,000 species. The mammals found here include the badger , the dormouse , the ermine and the beaver . Numerous bats also live in the caves.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Ferdinand Römer: The bone caves of Ojcow in Poland. In: Palaeontographica. Volume 29, Delivery 4, 1883, pp. 193-235.
- ^ Janusz Krzystof Kozłowski, Stefan Karol Kozłowski: Le Paléolithique en Pologne. J. Millon, Grenoble 1996.
- ^ Stanisław Kowalski: Uwagi o osadnictwie paleolitycznym w jaskiniach Ciemnej i Mamutowej w świetle badań z lat 1957–1974. [Remarks on Palaeolithic settlement in the Ciemna and Mamutowa caves in view of excavations in the years 1957–1974.] In: Jura Ojcowska w pradziejach iw początkach państwa polskiego. Ojców 2006, pp. 335–354.
- ↑ P. Wojtal, M. Patou-Mathis: Middle Paleolithic faunal in Poland. In: M. Patou-Mathis, H. Bocherens (eds.): Le rôle de l'environnement dans les comportements des chasseurs-cueilleurs préhistoriques . (= BAR Inter. Series. 1105). Actes du Congrès de l'UISPP, 2003, pp. 83-89.
- ^ St. Krukowski: Paleolit. In: Prehistoria ziem polskich. Encyklopedia Polska PAU IV, Kraków 1939, pp. 1–117.
- ↑ T. Madeyska: Środowisko człowieka w środkowym i górnym paleolicie na ziemiach polskich w świetle badań geologicznych. (= Studia Geol. Polon. 69). 1981.
- ^ Jacek Lech, Józef Partyka: Archeologiczne badania sondażowe nad Jaskinią Ciemną w 1998 roku. (Archeologični zonduval'ni doslidžennja Temnoï Pečeri v 1998 roku. Archaeological explorations above the Ciemna Cave in 1998). In: Z arch. Ukrainy i Jury Ojcowskiej. Ojców 2001, pp. 337-352.