Aggtelek National Park
Aggtelek is a national park in the north of Hungary, 60 km from Miskolc between the valleys of the rivers Shayo and Bodva. The park was established in 1985 on an area of 199 km2, and 10 years later it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Aggtelek is a karst region lined with many limestone cliffs. The main features of the park are its caves, of which there are as many as 712, and their age is over 10 million years. Among the caves, the Baradla cave stands out - the largest stalactite cave in Europe. The cave is 26 km long, 8 of which lie on the territory of Slovakia, where it is called Domica. The cave is decorated with heterogeneous stalactite formations. Because of their characteristic shapes, speleologists gave some names: dragon's head, mother-in-law's tongue, tiger, hall of columns, hall of giants. The Baradla cave is open to travelers, there are 3 entrances to the cave, one of them has a museum. In summer, classical music concerts are held here in the cave halls.
Apart from caves, Aggtelek National Park is notable for its landscapes, primeval forests with rich flora and fauna. There are grouse, roe deer, lynxes, deer, wild boars, and wolves in the forest. A distinctive feature of the Aggtelek Nature Reserve is the abundance of small lakes formed at the borders of karst strata. The local population calls such lakes "devil's pits". The water in the lakes collects during snowmelt and evaporates over time, in some the water lasts all year round.
