Slovak Paradise ( sk, Slovenský raj) is a mountain range in eastern Slovakia. It is a part of the Spiš-Gemer Karst, which in turn is a part of the
Slovak Ore Mountains
The Slovak Ore Mountains ( sk, Slovenské rudohorie , hu, Gömör–Szepesi-érchegység, german: Slowakisches Erzgebirge or Zips-Gemer-Erzgebirge) are an extensive mountain range within the Carpathian Mountains, located mostly in Slovakia's S ...
, a major subdivision 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 ...
. It is located between the towns of
Spišská Nová Ves
Spišská Nová Ves (; hu, Igló; german: (Zipser) Neu(en)dorf) is a town in the Košice Region of Slovakia. The town is located southeast of the High Tatras in the Spiš region, and lies on both banks of the Hornád River. It is the biggest tow ...
in the north and
Dobšiná
Dobšiná (german: Dobschau; hu, Dobsina; Latin: ''Dobsinium'') is a small town in the Slovak Ore Mountains along the Slaná River. For 500 years it was a small but prosperous mining village populated by ethnic Germans within the Kingdom of Hu ...
in the south. It is particularly known for its gorges and waterfalls. It is very popular with hikers as it has a number of unusual routes through gorges and waterfalls. There are numerous sections where fixed ladders are used to climb. The area is protected by
Slovak Paradise National Park
Slovak Paradise National Park ( sk, Národný park Slovenský raj) is one of the nine national parks in Slovakia, situated in East Slovakia. The National Park protects the area of the Slovak Paradise mountain range, which is located in the north ...
(''Národný park Slovenský raj'').
Characteristics
Slovak Paradise is a plain with high
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...
s (800–1000 m
AMSL
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
). The highest mountain is Ondrejisko at 1,270 m. The area is mainly built of
karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
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 ...
(Geravy, Glac, Pelc and Skala plains) and
dolomite Dolomite may refer to:
*Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral
*Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock
*Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community
*Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
(Tri kopce). The karst plateaus show phenomena such as
sinkhole
A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...
s and
limestone pavement
A limestone pavement is a natural karst landform consisting of a flat, incised surface of exposed limestone that resembles an artificial pavement. The term is mainly used in the UK and Ireland, where many of these landforms have developed dis ...
s (lapies). The climate is moderately cold.
Typical features are canyons, gorges, and
ravine
A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.Hnilec and
Hornád
Hornád ( Slovak, ) or Hernád ( Hungarian, ) is a river in eastern Slovakia and north-eastern Hungary.
It is a tributary to the river Slaná (Sajo). The source of the Hornád is the eastern slopes of Kráľova hoľa hill, south of Šuňava.
...
rivers and their tributaries. Eighty percent of the area is covered with
spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
forests combined with yew trees.
There are more than 200 caves and underground abysses. Among the caves,
Dobšiná Ice Cave
Dobšiná Ice Cave ( sk, Dobšinská ľadová jaskyňa; hu, Dobsinai-jégbarlang) is an ice cave in Slovakia, near the mining town of Dobšiná in the Slovak Paradise. Since 2000 it has been included on the UNESCO World Heritage list as a part of ...
and ''Medvedia jaskyňa'' (Bear Cave) are the best known ones.
There were many settlements of woodcutters, colliers and smelters in Slovak Paradise once, which were turned into tourist centers; for example, Dobšinská Maša, Dedinky, Mlynky, and Stratená.
Fauna
Notable and rare animals include the brown bear (''
Ursus arctos
The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...
''),
golden eagle
The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of p ...
,
common kestrel
The common kestrel (''Falco tinnunculus'') is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In the United Kingdom, where no ...
and the
black stork
The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, th ...
. Quite common are
red deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...
and
wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
s, wolf (''
Canis lupus
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
Lutra lutra
The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia. The most widely distributed member of the otter subfamily (Lutrinae) of ...
'').
Flora
The area is covered with
Norway spruce
''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.
It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very close ...
(''Picea abies''),
European beech
''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae.
Description
''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to tall and trunk diameter, though more ...
(''Fagus sylvatica''), fir, larch, and Scots pine (''Pinus sylvestris'').
Important
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
plants in the area are the Carpathian harebell (''Campanula carpatica''), ''Pulsatilla slavica'', ''Hesperis silvestris'', ''Liguria sibirica'', and ''Saxifraga paniculate''. Other plants found in this area are the mountain tassel flower (''
Soldanella
The genus ''Soldanella'', commonly known in English as snowbell, includes about 15 species of flowering plants native to European mountains, from the Pyrenees, the Apennines, the Alps, the Carpathians and the Balkans. They grow in woods, damp pa ...
montana''), martagon lily ''(
Lilium martagon
''Lilium martagon'', the martagon lily or Turk's cap lily, is a Eurasian species of lily. It has a widespread native region extending from Portugal east through Europe and Asia as far east as Mongolia.
Description
It is stem-rooting, growing be ...
''), and variegated monk's hood (''
Aconitum
''Aconitum'' (), also known as aconite, monkshood, wolf's-bane, leopard's bane, mousebane, women's bane, devil's helmet, queen of poisons, or blue rocket, is a genus of over 250 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae. ...
variegatum'').
See also
*
Slovak Paradise National Park
Slovak Paradise National Park ( sk, Národný park Slovenský raj) is one of the nine national parks in Slovakia, situated in East Slovakia. The National Park protects the area of the Slovak Paradise mountain range, which is located in the north ...