|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Velebit is the largest Croatian mountain and it belongs to the Dynarian system. It extends in the NW-SE direction, taking hold of three Croatian regions: Lika, Dalmatia and Croatian seaside. Its natural boundariesare strictly marked: there's The Velebit channel of Adriatic Sea on one side and fields "Licko i Gacko polje" on the other. From the South it's limited with the canyon of Zrmanja, and from the North it is separated from the spur of Kapela by a deeply engraved ablout Vratnik. The total lenght of Velebit is about 145 km, while its width is changing-the largest is up to 30 km on the Zavizan-Markoviceva
rudina line. The mountain of Velebit is divided on The North, The Middle, The South and The South-East part. Such division is based upon its natural marks-geographical and relief ones.
Geographical position of Velebit on the confines of Adriatic Sea and the continental Croatia, along with the structure of the basis among other conditions are the main natural factors that stipulate the plant cover of the mountain. The richness and the division into floral joints Velebit doesn't owe only to its position on the boundary of two
climates - the continental and the Mediterranean, but also to two confines of two different plant regions (The Mediterranean and the Middle - European).
The layer of soil in The Park is characteristically mountain - like. From the continental side, in the height of 600 - 900 m, mountain beech forests occur (Fagetum illyricum montanum) with the rich plant structure. For the higher mountain areas of the North - Eastern slopes beech forests with fir (Abieti - Fagetum illyricum montanum) are characteristic, while the highest belt is covered with the submountain beech forests (Aceri - fagetum illyricum).
Mountaneering options on Velebit are inexhaustible and heterogeneous due to the richness of rocky forms, the contrast between seaside and land declivity, botanical and zoological rarities, national reservations, numerous marked mountain roads and paths that were created by alpinists of Croatian Mountaneering Union.
In 1930 the forest engineer Ante Premuzic began with the buiding of a path that lasted 3 years. 50 km of the path leads through the most beautiful and the most interesting parts of Velebit. Premuziceva
staza leads through the Northern and the Middle part of Velebit, from Zavizan to the ablout in Baske
Ostarije. It branches out into many roads and paths that were built later. Premuziceva staza offers a good and long-in-the-distance views towards the inland of Velebit, as well as towards the seaside, the coast and islands.
The part of Premuziceva staza that passes through the National Park is divided into 2 branches; the first one from Zavizan to Rossijevo
skloniste, and the other from Rossijevo skloniste to the Veliki Alan.
Velebit is very rich with speleologic objects - pits, caves, abysses and oforms. Not untill recently were two greatest pits discovered: Lukina
jama in Hajducki kukovi and Slovakia (Mali kuk, - 1301 m) in Rozanski
kukovi. Slovakian speleologists discovered Lukina jama in 1992. It is positioned in the North - Eastern Slopes of Hajducki kukovi in the height of 1438 m. It is characterized by the high verticality and the great depth (-1392 m). The most significant faunistic discovery represents the endemic stygobiontic leach - Croatho branchus mestrovi.
Patkov gust is a pit discovered in 1997, with the second highest vertical in the world (-553 m).
|
|
|
|
|
