Aggtelek National Park
Aggtelek is a national park in the north of Hungary, 60 km from Miskolc between the valleys of the Shayo and Bodva rivers. The park was formed in 1985 on an area of 199 km2, and after 10 years he was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Aggtelek is a karst region lined with many limestone rocks. The main features of the park are its caves, of which there are already 712 pieces, and their age is over 10 million years. Among the caves stands out Baradla Cave - the largest stalactite cave in Europe. The length of the cave is 26 km, 8 of which lie in Slovakia, where it is called Domitsa. The cave is decorated with heterogeneous formations from stalactit. Due to the characteristic forms, speleologists gave some names: dragon's head, mother tongue, tiger, column hall, giants hall. Baradla Cave is open to travelers, 3 entrances lead to the cave, one of them has a museum. In summer, classical music concerts are held in cave halls.
In addition to caves, Aggtelek National Park is notable for its landscapes, primitive forests with rich flora and fauna. In the forest there are mountain ash, roe deer, lynx, deer, wild boars, wolves. A distinctive feature of the Aggtelek Nature Reserve is the abundance of small lakes formed at the borders of karst formations. The local population is called such lakes "devil pits". Water in the lakes is collected during snow melting and evaporates over time, in some water holds all year round.
