The Kamnik–Savinja Alps ( sl, Kamniško-Savinjske Alpe) are a mountain range of the

Southern Limestone Alps The Southern Limestone Alps ( it, Alpi Sud-orientali, german: Südliche Kalkalpen), also called the Southern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps south of the Central Eastern Alps mainly located in northern Italy and the adjacen ...

. They lie in northern

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

, except for the northernmost part, which lies in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. The western part of the range was named the Kamnik Alps (german: Steiner Alpen) in 1778 by the scientists Belsazar Hacquet and

Franz Xaver von Wulfen Franz Xaver Freiherr von Wulfen (5 November 1728 – 17 March 1805) was an Austrian botanist, zoologist, mineralogist, alpinist, and Jesuit priest. He is credited with discovering the flowering plants '' Wulfenia carinthiaca'', '' Saxifraga ...

, after the town of

Kamnik Kamnik (; german: Stein''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 26–27. or ''Stein in Oberkrain'') is a town in northern Slovenia. It is ...

(''Stein'') in the valley of the

Kamnik Bistrica The Kamnik Bistrica ( sl, Kamniška Bistrica, ) is an Alpine river in northern Slovenia, a left tributary of the Sava River. It springs from the Kamnik Alps (part of the Southern Limestone Alps) near the border with Austria. It is long. The Kamni ...

River. Its eastern part was named the Savinja Alps (''Sanntaler Alpen'') or Solčava Alps (''Sulzbacher Alpen'') by the mountaineer Johannes von Frischauf in 1875, after the settlement of

Solčava Solčava (; German: ''Sulzbach'') is a village in the Upper Savinja Valley in northern Slovenia close to the Austrian border. It is the largest settlement and the seat of the Municipality of Solčava. Traditionally it belonged to the region of S ...

(''Sulzbach'') and the main river, the upper Savinja (''Sann'').

Geography

The Kamnik–Savinja Alps are located south of the

Karawanks The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks ( sl, Karavanke; german: Karawanken, ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of in an east–west dir ...

range at the border of Austria and Slovenia, stretching from the

Sava River The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...

in the west to the Savinja in the east, where the adjacent

Slovenian Prealps The Slovene Prealps or the Slovenian Prealps ( sl, Slovenske Predalpe, , ) are a group of mountain ranges in the eastern part of the Alps. They are located in Slovenia and, for a small part of their northernmost area, in Austria. Geography SO ...

with the

Pohorje Pohorje (), also known as the Pohorje Massif or the Pohorje Mountains (german: Bachergebirge, ''Bacherngebirge'' or often simply ''Bachern''), is a mostly wooded, medium-high mountain range south of the Drava River in northeastern Slovenia. Acco ...

range, the

Celje ) , pushpin_map = Slovenia , pushpin_label_position = left , pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city of Celje in Slovenia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Cou ...

Hills at the Dravinja River, as well as the

Sava Hills The Sava Hills ( sl, Posavsko hribovje) are the eastern part of the Slovene Prealps. They are oriented in the east-west direction and are located to the north and south of the Sava River in central and eastern Slovenia, among the Ljubljana Basi ...

are located. In the northwest, the valley of Vellach Creek (at ) leading to Bad Vellach is the southernmost point of both the Austrian state of

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carin ...

and Austria as a whole. The entire main chain is today part of Slovenia. Historically it formed the border between the

Inner Austria Inner Austria (german: Innerösterreich; sl, Notranja Avstrija; it, Austria Interiore) was a term used from the late 14th to the early 17th century for the Habsburg hereditary lands south of the Semmering Pass, referring to the Imperial duchi ...

n duchies of

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered ...

, and

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region s ...

. The

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

was located at the Carinthia Mount Rinka ( sl, Koroška Rinka). There is also a small

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

below Mount Skuta, which is the easternmost glacier in the Southern Alps.

Mountains and passes

The most important peaks are: * Grintovec – * Kočna – * Skuta – * Ojstrica – * Storžič – * Planjava – * Brana – * Carinthia Mount Rinka – * Cold Mountain – * Krofička – * Kalce Ridge – In total, 28 peaks surpass 2,000 m. The total area of the Slovene part is about 900 km². About three-quarters of the area is covered with forest, and many of the higher peaks are bleak and rocky. The most important passes are the Seebergsattel ( sl, Jezersko sedlo) between Austrian Carinthia and Slovenia's Municipality of Jezersko, as well as the Pavlič Pass. On the Slovenian side, there is a skiing area, whereas tourism in the Vellach Valley focuses on health spas.

Gallery

Image:Kamniske Alpe.JPG, The Kamnik–Savinja Alps; the highest peak in the picture is Storžič. Image:Kranj 06.jpg, The Kamnik–Savinja Alps seen from

Kranj Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carnio ...

Image:Kranj 19.jpg,

and the Kamnik–Savinja Alps in background File:Upper Kamnik valley and Alps.JPG, A portion of the Kamnik–Savinja Alps with the northern suburbs of Kamnik in the foreground Image:Blick von Kärnten zu den SteinerAlpen.jpg, The Kamnik–Savinja Alps seen from

External links

*
Kamnik–Savinja Alps on Hiking Trail
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamnik-Savinja Alps Southern Limestone Alps Mountain ranges of the Alps Mountain ranges of Carinthia (state) Mountain ranges of Slovenia Natura 2000 in Slovenia

Geography

Mountains and passes

Gallery

See also

External links