Mala Kapela (, lit. ''Small Chapel'') is a
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...
in
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
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, capit ...
, part of the
Dinaric Alps. It stretches in the direction northwest–southeast, and it extends from the
mountain pass
A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...
called "Kapela" or "Vrh Kapele" (alt. 887 m),
that separates it from
Velika Kapela, down to the mountain pass that connects
Otočac and
Plitvice and from then on to
Plješevica. The highest peak is Seliški vrh at 1279 meters, located in the southern part of the mountain.
The
Mala Kapela Tunnel
Mala Kapela Tunnel ( hr, Tunel Mala Kapela) is the most significant structure on the Croatian A1 motorway route. As it is long (northbound tube), Mala Kapela Tunnel is the longest tunnel in Croatia. The tunnel is geographically located between t ...
goes through the northern section of the mountain.
Etymology
In the past, the mountain pass until 1522 was known as Iron Mountain (''Alpes ferreae''), Gvozd (''Gozdia'') and Petrov Gvozd (''Peturgoz'') when due to the chapel of St. Nikola (previously St. Mikula) the population started to call it as Kapela. The pass is considered to have been the place where Croatian King
Petar Snačić died in the
Battle of Gvozd Mountain (1097), which was previously erroneously identified with
Petrova Gora.
References
Mountains of Croatia
Landforms of Lika-Senj County
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