The Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst is a

UNESCO World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

site consisting of 712 caves spread out over a total area of along the border of

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

and

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 ...

Background

This UNESCO World Heritage site includes seven components. They are Aggtelek, Szendrő-Rudabánya Hill, and Esztramoill in

, and

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 ...

, Koniar plateau, Plešivec plateau, and neighbourhood of Silica and Jasov in

. Caves included are: * Baradla and Domica complex *

Gombasek Cave Gombasek Cave or Gombasecká jaskyňa (in Slovak) and Gombaszögi-barlang (in Hungarian) is a karst cave in the Slovak Karst, Slovakia. It is named after the settlement of ''Gombasek'', which belongs to the village of Slavec. It is located ...

* Silica Ice Cave *

Ochtinská Aragonite Cave Ochtinská Aragonite Cave ( sk, Ochtinská aragonitová jaskyňa, hu, Martonházi-aragonitbarlangthe Magyar Wikipedia article uses a different title) is a unique aragonite cave situated in southern Slovakia, near Rožňava. Although only 300 m lo ...

Jasovská Cave Jasov Cave ( sk, Jasovská jaskyňa, and hu, Jászói barlang) is a speleothem limestone cave and archaeological site in the Slovak Karst in Slovakia. It is located near the village of Jasov, around from Košice city. History The cave w ...

Baradla-Domica Cave complex is long with approximately one fourth of that on the Slovak side and the rest in Hungary. The first written mention of Baradla cave dates back to 1549 and from 1920 it serves as a tourist attraction. Ján Majko discovered Domica Cave (Slovak part of the complex) in 1926 and the tourist circuit opened to public in 1932 has more than . Cave was inhabited as far as 5000 BC and is an important

archeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

Bükk Culture The Bükk Mountains () are a section of the North Hungarian Mountains of the Inner Western Carpathians. Much of the area is included in the Bükk National Park. Geography Although Kékes, the highest point in Hungary, is not here but in the ...

. Temperature in the Slovak part varies between with a humidity above 95%. Gombasek Cave was discovered in 1951 with 530 out of its opened to the public from 1955. The cave is also experimentally used for "speleotherapy" as a sanatorium, focused on airway diseases thanks to constant temperature of , high humidity of 98% and favorable microclimate. Geomorphologically it is one of the youngest but nevertheless also one of the most impressive caves in Slovakia with extraordinary decoration that gave it the nickname "Fairy tale cave". Dobšiná Ice Cave was added to the list of components of this World Heritage Site only in the year 2000. The cave was discovered in 1870 by Eugen Ruffinyi, though the entrance was known long before. Being open to the public just one year after its discovery, in 1887 it became the first electrically lit cave in Europe. Approximately one third of its length is open from May to September. Thickness of the ice on the floor approaches , with a surface area of and estimated volume of of ice. Average temperature is and relative humidity between 96 and 99%. This cave is among the most beautiful and the most richly decorated ice caves in the world. Although Ochtinská Aragonite Cave is just long with a tourist circuit not longer than , it is famous for its rare

aragonite Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate, (the other forms being the minerals calcite and vaterite). It is formed by biological and physical processes, including pre ...

filling since there are only three aragonite caves discovered in the world so far. In the so-called Milky Way Hall, the main attraction of the cave, white branches and clusters of aragonite shine like stars in the Milky Way. The cave was discovered in 1954 and opened to the public in 1972. Temperature in the cave is around with relative humidity between 92 and 97%. Jasovská Cave'' was partly opened to the public in 1846, making it the oldest publicly accessible cave in Slovakia. The lower parts of the cave were discovered from 1922 to 1924. More than one third of its total length is open to the public. Paleolithic and Neolithic archeological artifacts were found in the cave together with those of

Hallstatt Culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European culture of Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to 6th centuries ...

Gallery

File:Cave 2 by andy205.jpg, Baradla Cave File:Ochtina Aragonite Cave 54.jpg, Ochtina Aragonite Cave File:Jaskinia Gombasecka 3.jpg, Gombasek Cave File:Dobsinska ladova cave.jpg, Dobšiná Ice Cave

References

Resources

* {{World Heritage Sites in Hungary Caves of Hungary Caves of Slovakia Protected areas of the Western Carpathians Geography of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County Geography of Košice Region Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst Show caves in Slovakia World Heritage Sites in Hungary World Heritage Sites in Slovakia Ramsar sites in Hungary Ramsar sites in Slovakia Tourist attractions in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County Tourist attractions in Košice Region

Background

See also

Gallery

References

Resources