The Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, also known as the Polish Jurassic Highland or Polish Jura ( pl, Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska), is part of the
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
System of south–central
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, stretching between the cities of
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
,
Częstochowa
Częstochowa ( , ; german: Tschenstochau, Czenstochau; la, Czanstochova) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta River with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (admin ...
and
Wieluń
Wieluń ( la, Velun) is a town in south-central Poland with 21,624 inhabitants (2021). Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), it was previously in Sieradz Voivodeship (1975–1998).
Wieluń has a long and rich history. In the past, ...
. The Polish Jura borders the
Lesser Polish Upland to the north and east, the foothills of the
Western Carpathians
The Western Carpathians are a mountain range and geomorphological province that forms the western part of the Carpathian Mountains.
The mountain belt stretches from the Low Beskids range of the Eastern Carpathians along the border of Poland wi ...
to the south and
Silesian Upland
Silesian Upland or Silesian Highland ( pl, Wyżyna Śląska) is a highland located in Silesia and Lesser Poland, Poland.
Its highest point is the St. Anne Mountain (406 m).
See also
*Silesian Lowlands
*Silesian-Lusatian Lowlands
* Silesian ...
to the west.
The Polish Jura consists of a hilly landscape with
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
limestone rocks, cliffs, valleys and vast
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
formations, featuring some 220 caves. The relief of the upland developed since the
Paleogene
The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...
, under climatic conditions changing considerably. Its main component is a
peneplain
390px, Sketch of a hypothetical peneplain formation after an orogeny.
In geomorphology and geology, a peneplain is a low-relief plain formed by protracted erosion. This is the definition in the broadest of terms, albeit with frequency the usage ...
, crowned by
monadnock
An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain.
In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...
s, rocky masses that resisted erosion, generated as hard rock on
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987.
In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...
buildup surrounded by less resistant bedded limestone of the same age.
["Pattern of karst landscape of the Cracow Upland (South Poland)" by Witold Stefan Alexandrowicz and Zofia Alexandrowicz, Acta Carsologica, Slovenian Academy Of Sciences ] The Polish Jura is visited by roughly 400,000 visitors a year. Part of it belongs to the
Ojców National Park
Ojców National Park ( pl, Ojcowski Park Narodowy) is a national park in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, established in 1956. It takes its name from the village of Ojców, where it also has its headquarters. Chopin ...
, the smallest of Poland's twenty
national park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
s, ranking among the most attractive recreational areas of the country.
[ Congress of the Jurassic System, Kraków, Poland.](_blank)
Flora and fauna
The Kraków-Częstochowa Jurassic Upland consists of a rich
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
, partly because of the unique
microclimate
A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...
and also because of the whole upland being surrounded by a natural forest.
[ "Krakow - Czestochowa Upland"](_blank)
Agencja Promocji Regionów ORANET. Plant and animal life is very
diverse with over 1600 species of plants and 5500 species of animals. These include 4600 species of
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
s, including 1700 of
beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
s and 1075 of
butterflies
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
and 135 of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
s.
Mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s include the
beaver
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...
,
badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united b ...
,
ermine and 15 species of
bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...
s, many of which
hibernate
Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...
in the park's caves during the winter.
The climate of the upland differs significantly from the surrounding area. The
snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
pack covers the area for 80 days a year and the rainy season lasts from April until September. Annual precipitation varies between 650–700 mm, higher than in surrounding regions, the median temperature is lower, from 0.5 to 1.0°C. Average temperature is 19°C in summer and -3°C in winter.
There are a number of rivers that originate from the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, among them the
Warta
The river Warta ( , ; german: Warthe ; la, Varta) rises in central Poland and meanders greatly north-west to flow into the Oder, against the German border. About long, it is Poland's second-longest river within its borders after the Vistula, a ...
,
Biała Przemsza
Biała Przemsza is a river of Poland, a tributary of the Przemsza near Mysłowice
Mysłowice ( szl, Myslowicy; german: Myslowitz) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The population of the city is 74,085.
It is located in ...
,
Pilica,
Dłubnia,
Szreniawa,
Prądnik,
Wiercica and
Rudawa.
Apart from a diversity of plant and animal species, one can find a unique cultural landscape with archeological objects and relics of ancient inhabitation, with a vast collection of artifacts. The earliest settlement in the area dates to the
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
period, approximately 12,000 years ago. The region is rich in
flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
, which attracted
early humans
''Homo'' () is the genus that emerged in the (otherwise extinct) genus ''Australopithecus'' that encompasses the extant species ''Homo sapiens'' (modern humans), plus several extinct species classified as either ancestral to or closely related ...
.
Gallery
File:Jaskinia Ciemna.jpg, Statues of Neanderthal
Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While th ...
in the Dark Cave
File:Skała Grodzisko a1.jpg, Highland Outlier
In statistics, an outlier is a data point that differs significantly from other observations. An outlier may be due to a variability in the measurement, an indication of novel data, or it may be the result of experimental error; the latter are ...
File:OPN Skała Rękawica.jpg, Crown Rocks
File:Złoty Potok Staw Amerykan.jpg, American pond in Złoty Potok
File:Bergaster.jpg, ''Aster amellus
''Aster amellus'', the European Michaelmas daisy, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus '' Aster'' of the family Asteraceae.
Etymology
The specific name ''amellus'' is first used in the Georgics (Book IV, 271–280), a poem of the Lati ...
''
File:Sempervivum montanum.JPG, Mountain swarm (''Sempervivum montanum L.'')
File:Saxifraga paniculata a5.jpg, '' Saxifraga paniculata''
File:Wielbłąd DK14 (2).jpg, Camel Rock on Zborów Mountain
File:Skały Rzędkowickie Dk14.jpg, Rzędkowickie rocks
File:Góra Zborów DK11 (16).jpg, Zborów mountain nature reserve
File:Skały Mirowskie DK12 (11).jpg, Mirowskie rocks
File:Dolina Kluczwody a7.jpg, Kluczwody Valley
File:Dolina Mnikowska a8.jpg, Mnikowska Valley
File:Brama Krakowska, Dolina Prądnika.jpg, Kraków Gate
Kraków Gate ( pl, Brama Krakowska) is one of the few rock gates in Ojców National Park. It is in the Valley of the Pradnik and closes the outlet of the Cracow Gorge Gateway to the valley. It is a classic example of the gates of rock. The name ...
File:Dolina Prądnika OPN7 (3).jpg, Canyon of Prądnik
File:Eagles Nests Trail 03.jpg, Club of Hercules
File:Maczuga Herkulesa from Castle.JPG, Club of Hercules
File:Maczuga Herkulesa 1.jpg, Club of Hercules
File:Polska Olsztyn(śląskie) 006.jpg, Typical landscape
File:Tatry-ze-skalki-502.jpg, View of the Tatra mountains
The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak language, Slovak () or in Polish language, Polish () - ''plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovak ...
, 115 km away from the ruins of Grodzisko castle near Gmina Skała
__NOTOC__
Gmina Skała is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the town of Skała, which lies approximately north of the regional capital Kraków.
The gmin ...
File:Jaskinia Wierzchowska Górna a2.jpg, Wierzchowska Górna Cave
File:Dolina Prądnika a3.jpg, Prądnik river valley
File:Gory Towarne Kusieta.JPG, Mount Towarne
File:Bolechowicki Gully Nature reserve, Bolechowicka Gate, Karniowice village, Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland.jpg, Bolechowicka Gate
File:Sokolica a1 (Dolina Będkowska).jpg, Sokolica
File:Skały Rzędkowickie Turnia Lechfora 29.05.2010 p.jpg, Rzędkowickie rocks
File:OkiennikWielki2.JPG, The Great Window
File:Biaklo Olsztyn.JPG
;Castles
File:Zamek-Ogrodzieniec.jpg, Ruins of the Ogrodzieniec Castle
Ogrodzieniec Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Podzamcze, near Ogrodzieniec, the south-central region of Poland called Polish Jura. Originating in the 14th century the castle was rebuilt several times in its long history. It is situated on ...
in Podzamcze
File:Ogrodzieniec zamek 2.jpg, Ruins of the Ogrodzieniec Castle
Ogrodzieniec Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Podzamcze, near Ogrodzieniec, the south-central region of Poland called Polish Jura. Originating in the 14th century the castle was rebuilt several times in its long history. It is situated on ...
File:Ogrodzieniec-Zamek-Tamerlan.jpg, Ruins of the castle Ogrodzieniec
File:Zamek w Olsztynie DK12 (2).jpg, Ruins of Olsztyn Castle
The Olsztyn Castle, officially the Castle of Warmian Cathedral Chapter in Olsztyn ( pl, Zamek Kapituły Warmińskiej w Olsztynie), is a Brick Gothic castle located in the heart of Olsztyn (Allenstein), in northern Poland. Built in the 14th cen ...
File:Castle in Olsztyn.JPG, Ruins of the castle Olsztyn
File:Zamek w Mirowie DK12.jpg, Ruins of Mirów Castle
File:Mirów zamek 29.05.2010 p4.jpg, Ruins of the Mirów castle
File:Zamek w Smoleniu DK11. (2).jpg, Ruins of Smoleniu Castle
File:Polska Olsztyn(śląskie) 001.jpg, Ruins of Gmina Olsztyn
__NOTOC__
Gmina Olsztyn is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Częstochowa County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the village of Olsztyn, Silesian Voivodeship, Olsztyn, which lies approximately south-east of Częstoc ...
File:Teczyn2.JPG, Tenczyn Castle
File:Pieskowa Skała 1.jpg, Renaissance castle Pieskowa Skała
File:Zamek Bobolice 2013.JPG, Bobolice Castle (after reconstruction in 2002–11)
File:20140820 Zamek w Bydlinie 3686.jpg, Ruins of the castle Bydlin
File:Zamek Lipowiec 8 maja 2010.jpg, Ruins of the castle Lipowiec
File:Ruiny zamku Rabsztyn - przemasban71.JPG, The ruins of the castle Rabsztyn
See also
*
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krakow-Czestochowa Upland
Mountain ranges of Poland
Geography of Lesser Poland Voivodeship
Lesser Poland Voivodeship