Slovak Karst National Park

Slovak Karst National Park Národný park Slovenský kras
The Zádielska tiesňava in the east of the national park
Coordinates: 48 ° 36 ′ 0 ″  N , 20 ° 31 ′ 0 ″  E
Location:	Košický , Slovakia
Specialty:	Biosphere reserve , e.g. T. UNESCO World Heritage
Next city:	Rožňava , Medzev
Surface:	346.11 km²
Founding:	March 1, 2002
Address:	Sprava Národného parku Slovenský kras Biely kaštieľ č. 188 049 51 Brzotín

The Slovak Karst National Park ( Slovak Národný park Slovenský kras ) is a Slovak national park in the east-center of the country. It is located in the Slovak Karst , part of the Slovak Ore Mountains in the political district of Košický kraj .

The national park is known for its rock formations and numerous caves, gorges, gorges and other karst formations . Together with the Hungarian National Park Aggtelek ( Aggtelek Karst) it covers one of the largest karst areas in Central Europe. Some caves belong to the UNESCO World Heritage “Caves of the Slovak Karst and Aggtelek Karst”.

The administrative seat is in Brzotín .

history

The predecessor of the national park was founded in 1973, it was a landscape protection area (size 361.65 km² core zone). On March 1, 1977 the area was declared the first biosphere reserve in Slovakia. By decree of the Slovak government, the area has been a national park since March 1, 2002.

geography

Silická ľadnica

The national park is located in the south-western part of eastern Slovakia in the political district Košický kraj (Okresy Rožňava and Košice-okolie ), along the border with Hungary. Smaller parts of the 117.41 km² protection zone extend into the Okres Revúca , which belongs to the Banskobystrický kraj ; on the east side, a small part of the Košická kotlina is part of the protection zone. The 346.11 km² core zone covers almost the entire Slovak Karst and extends from Plešivec in the west to Jasov in the east. The main part is located between the Slaná , Turňa and Bodva rivers , over the Jablonovské sedlo pass. Smaller parts of the core zone are located on both sides of the lower reaches of the Štítnik River.

More than 1000 caves are known in the area of ​​the entire national park. The longest and deepest discovered cave system of the Skalistý potok measures about 5.8 km and is 317 m deep. The Silická ľadnica (ice cave of silica) is referred to as the lowest-lying ice cave in the temperate climatic zone, with the entrance at the height of 503 m 12 nm of the caves are since 1995 the UNESCO world heritage. Caves open to the public are: Domica , Gombasecká jaskyňa and Jasovská jaskyňa . The Ochtina Aragonite Cave, which is sometimes mentioned, is outside the national park boundaries.

The most famous gorge is the Zádielska tiesňava near the municipality of Zádiel . It is up to 300 meters deep, sometimes only 10 meters wide and about 2 km long. Some deep gullies are z. B. the Kunia priepasť (“Mader-Schlunde”, −220 m), the Čertova diera (“Devil's Hole”, −186 m) or the Brázda (“Furche”, −181 m).

The highest point of the national park is the Matesova scale ( 925  m nm ).

Flora and fauna

The forest still covers about 80% of the national park area. In the lower elevations, oak and hornbeam mostly grow , on the southern side they are also in higher elevations. Less widespread beeches grow on the north side and higher up . Maples and ash trees are also rare . The endemic plants include: Hungarian lotus ( Onosma tornensis ) or Hainburg spring carnation ( Dianthus lumnitzerii ), other rare plants are e.g. B. Dog's tooth lily or green head grass .

As in other mountainous areas of Slovakia, you can meet Eurasian lynxes , brown bears , wild boars , wolves , foxes and badgers . Numerous bushes are suitable for songbirds. Thanks to the rocky biotope, there are many species of reptiles. Numerous caves make the area suitable for bats, and during the winter the number can be up to 50,000 specimens of 24 species. Some animals that are threatened in Europe live in the national park, such as B. Eastern imperial eagle , further short-toed eagle or saker falcon .

Special area protection

The following areas are under special protection

• Národné prírodné rezervácie (NPR, National Nature Reserves)

Brzotínske skaly (433.78 ha, since 1984) Domické škrapy (24.44 ha, 1973) Drieňovec (186.02 ha, 1984) Havrania skala (147.14 ha, 1982) Hrušovská lesostep (40.85 ha, 1954)

Jasovské dubiny (35.1 ha, 1950) Kečovské škrapy (6.61 ha, 1981) Pod Strážnym hrebeňom (96.67 ha, 1966) Turniansky hradný vrch (13.79 ha, 1964) Zádielska tiešnava (214.73 ha, 1986)

• Národné prírodné pamiatky (NPP, National Natural Monuments)

Ardovská jaskyňa (since 1972) Brázda (1982) Diviačia priepasť (1986) Domica (1972) Drienovská jaskyňa (1996) Gombasecká jaskyňa (1972) Hrušovská jaskyňa (1996) Jasovská jaskyňa (1925)

Krásnohorská jaskyňa (1972) Kunia priepasť (1996) Milada (1972) Obrovská priepasť (1996) Silická ľadnica (1982) Skalistý potok (1996) Snežná diera (1996) Zvonivá jama (1996)

• Prírodné rezervácie (PR, nature reserves)

Gerlašské skaly (21.73 ha, since 1981)

Kráľova studňa (11.21 ha, 1982)

Palanta (86.93 ha, 1966)

Pod Fabiankou (1.22 ha, 1982)

Sokolia skala (11.69 ha, 1981)

literature

• Ján Lacika, Kliment Ondrejka: Prírodné Krásy Slovenska - Národné parky . Ed .: DAJAMA. 1st edition. Bratislava 2009, ISBN 978-80-89226-27-6 .

Web links

• Štátny zoznam osobitne chránených častí prírody SR (Slovak, English)
• Comprehensive description (Slovak)