Ojców National Park ( pl, Ojcowski Park Narodowy) is a national park in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, established in 1956. It takes its name from the village of

Ojców Ojców is a village in Gmina Skała, in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is one of the sights of the Eagle Nests Trail (''Szlak Orlich Gniazd''), as there are the ruins of a gothic castle near the village. Th ...

, where it also has its headquarters. Chopin visited Ojców in 1829. It is Poland's smallest national park, with an original area of , since expanded to . Of this area, is

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

ed and is strictly protected. The park is approximately north of

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, in the Jurassic Kraków-Częstochowa Upland.

Geography

Karst topography of soluble bedrock characterizes the park, which in addition to two river (the Prądnik and Saspówka) valleys contains numerous

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s. The largest of these, Łokietek's Cave (said to have sheltered

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Władysław I Łokietek Władysław I Łokietek, in English known as the "Elbow-high" or Ladislaus the Short (c. 1260/12 March 1333), was King of Poland from 1320 to 1333, and duke of several of the provinces and principalities in the preceding years. He was a member of ...

, for whom it was named), is deep. The area is also noted for its rock formations, the most famous being Hercules' Club, a -high limestone column. Ojcowski Park is very

biodiverse Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

; over 5500 species reside in the park. These include 4600 species of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s (including 1700 of

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s and 1075 of butterflies) and 135 of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s. Mammals include the beaver,

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...

, ermine, and 15 species of

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

s, many of which hibernate in the park's caves during the winter.

Waters

The water network in its present shape developed in the end of the Tertiary period as a result of deep erosion of streams. The main watercourse is the Pradnik. Its tributary in the Park is the Saspowka. The streams are supplied with water from about 20 springs in karst cracks, called "wywierzyska" (rising springs).

Human habitation and culture

The earliest settlement in the area dates to the Paleolithic, approximately 120,000 years ago. The

region is rich in

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...

, which attracted early

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

s. The park contains numerous castles, including a ruined Gothic castle at Ojców and a better-preserved

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

castle at Pieskowa Skała, both on the tourist

Trail of the Eagles' Nests The Trail of the Eagles' Nests ( pl, Szlak Orlich Gniazd) of south-western Poland, is a marked trail along a chain of 25 medieval castles between Częstochowa and Kraków. The Trail of the Eagles' Nests was first marked by Kazimierz Sosnowski. Si ...

. There are two

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

s in the park, the Professor Władyslaw Szafer Museum (named for the first person to advocate the creation of a national park in the Ojców area), and a branch of the Kraków-based National Art Collection, located in the Pieskowa Skała castle.

Gallery

File:Polska OjcowskiPN 008.jpg, Ojców National Park Museum File:Hdr 00191 1.jpg, Chapel on the Water File:Eagles Nests Trail 01.jpg, ''Hercules's Bludgeon'' File:Brama Krakowska, Dolina Prądnika.jpg, ''Kraków's Gate'' File:Pieskowa Skala Castle.jpg, Pieskowa Skała Castle File:Zamek w Ojcowie - wieża bramna 03.jpg, Ojców Castle ruins File:Dolina Prądnika a8.jpg, Prądnik Valley File:Dolina Prądnika a6.jpg, ''Under the Crown'' rock formation

References

The Board of Polish National Parks

a

b
Zbigniew Zwolińsky

Official website
Internet Archive
Tourist Information of Ojcow National Park

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ojcow National Park National parks of Poland Parks in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Ojców Protected areas established in 1956 1956 establishments in Poland Central European mixed forests

Geography

Waters

Human habitation and culture

See also

Gallery

References