Vihorlat Protected Landscape Area ( sk, Chránená krajinná oblasť Vihorlat) is one of 14 protected landscape areas in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. The Landscape Area is in the middle part of the

Vihorlatské vrchy Vihorlat Mountains ( sk, Vihorlatské vrchy; ua, Вигорлат, ''Vyhorliat'') or colloquially Vihorlat is a volcanic mountain range in eastern Slovakia and western Ukraine. A part of the range is listed as a World Heritage Site. Etymolog ...

mountains, in eastern Slovakia. It is in the

Humenné Humenné (; hu, Homonna; ukr, Гуменне) is a town in the Prešov Region ("kraj") in eastern Slovakia and the second largest town of the historic Zemplín region. It lies at the volcanic Vihorlat mountains and at the confluence of the La ...

Sobrance Sobrance (german: Sobranz, hu, Szobránc) is a town in Košice Region, Slovakia, around from Uzhhorod, Ukraine, and east of Michalovce. Located in the Eastern Slovak Lowland not far from the Vihorlat Mountains, it is the easternmost town in Slo ...

and

Snina Snina ( hu, Szinna, rue, Снина) is a town in Slovakia located at the confluence of the Cirocha river and the small river Pčolinka in the valley between the Bukovec Mountains foothills and the Vihorlat Mountains. It is the closest town wit ...

districts.

History

The park was created on 28 December 1973 and the law creating it was amended on 19 April 1999.

Geography, geology and biology

The area of the Vihorlat Mountains is of volcanic origin.

Beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

, and

fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

trees are most common in Vihorlat. The area contains about 2,000 species of

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

and 100 species of birds. Notable species include

Eurasian lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is a medium-sized wild cat widely distributed from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. It inhabits temperate and boreal forests up to an eleva ...

wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

gray wolf 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 ...

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

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, t ...

, Ural owl,

lesser spotted eagle The lesser spotted eagle (''Clanga pomarina'') is a large Eastern European bird of prey. Like all typical eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The typical eagles are often united with the buteos, sea eagles, and other more heavy-set Acc ...

, and

Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl that resides in much of Palearctic, Eurasia. It is also called the Uhu and it is occasionally abbreviated to just the eagle-owl in Europe. It is one of the largest species of owl, ...

. A curiosity in the park is the Morské oko (literally 'Sea Eye') Lake.

Gallery

Vihorlat (v zime) 002.jpg, Vihorlat (1,076 m), the highest mountain of Vihorlat Mountains Vihorlat (v zime) 007.jpg, Pylon on top of Vihorlat with rime Vihorlat (v zime) 025.jpg, Winter in Vihorlat (left peak Kyjov) Vihorlat (v zime) 034.jpg, Vihorlat in winter, in the background

High Tatras The High Tatras or High Tatra Mountains ( Slovak: Vysoké Tatry; pl, Tatry Wysokie; rue, Высокі Татри,'' Vysoki Tatry''; hu, Magas-Tátra; german: Hohe Tatra; french: Hautes Tatras), are a mountain range along the border of norther ...

Sninský kameň (v máji) 015.jpg, Sninský kameň (1,006 m) Sninský kameň (v máji) 026.jpg, View of Morské oko from Sninský kameň Sninský kameň (v zime) 046.jpg, Sninský kameň in winter at sunset Sninský kameň v jeseni 001.jpg, Sninský kameň in autumn Morské oko 022.jpg, Morské oko and peak Sninský kameň Morské oko (v máji) 008.jpg, Morské oko in May

References

External links

Chránená krajinná oblasť Vihorlat
(in Slovak)
Photo gallery VihorlatPhoto gallery Sninský kameňPhoto gallery Inversion – Vihorlat, Sninský kameň
(photos of Vihorlat and Sninský kameň)
Vihorlat PLA
a
Slovakia.travel

Vihorlat PLA at The Slovak State Nature Conservancy
{{Authority control Protected areas of Slovakia Protected areas established in 1973 Geography of Prešov Region Tourist attractions in Prešov Region Geography of Košice Region Tourist attractions in Košice Region

History

Geography, geology and biology

Gallery

See also

References

External links