Vihorlat Protected Landscape Area () is one of 14 protected landscape areas in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. The Landscape Area is in the middle part of the Vihorlatské vrchy mountains, in eastern Slovakia. It is in the

Humenné Humenné (; ; ) is a town in the Prešov Region ("kraj") in eastern Slovakia and the second largest town of the historic Zemplín region. It lies at the volcanic Vihorlat mountains and at the confluence of the Laborec and Cirocha Rivers. Na ...

, Sobrance and Snina districts.

History

The park was created on 28 December 1973 and the law creating it was amended on 19 April 1999.

Geography, geology and biology

The area of the Vihorlat Mountains is of volcanic origin.

Beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

, ash,

maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

, and

fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

trees are most common in Vihorlat. The area contains about 2,000 species of

invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...

and 100 species of birds. Notable species include

Eurasian lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is one of the four wikt:extant, extant species within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. It is widely distributed from Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe to Cent ...

wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

gray wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

, black stork,

Ural owl The Ural owl (''Strix uralensis'') is a large nocturnal owl. It is a member of the true owl family, ''Strigidae''. The Ural owl is a member of the genus ''Strix (genus), Strix'', that is also the origin of the family's name under Linnaean taxonom ...

lesser spotted eagle The lesser spotted eagle (''Clanga pomarina'') is a large Eastern European bird of prey. Like all typical eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The typical eagles are often united with the buteos, sea eagles, and other more heavy-set Ac ...

, and

Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia. It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total le ...

. A curiosity in the park is the Morské oko (literally 'Sea Eye') Lake.

Gallery

Vihorlat (v zime) 002.jpg, Vihorlat (1,076 m), the highest mountain of Vihorlat Mountains Vihorlat (v zime) 007.jpg, Pylon on top of Vihorlat with rime Vihorlat (v zime) 025.jpg, Winter in Vihorlat (left peak Kyjov) Vihorlat (v zime) 034.jpg, Vihorlat in winter, in the background

High Tatras The High Tatras or High Tatra Mountains (; ; ,'' Vysoki Tatry''; ; ), are a mountain range along the border of northern Slovakia in the Prešov Region, and southern Poland in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. They are a range of the Tatra Mountains ...

Sninský kameň (v máji) 015.jpg, Sninský kameň (1,006 m) Sninský kameň (v máji) 026.jpg, View of Morské oko from Sninský kameň Sninský kameň (v zime) 046.jpg, Sninský kameň in winter at sunset Sninský kameň v jeseni 001.jpg, Sninský kameň in autumn Morské oko 022.jpg, Morské oko and peak Sninský kameň Morské oko (v máji) 008.jpg, Morské oko in May

References

External links

Chránená krajinná oblasť Vihorlat
(in Slovak)
Photo gallery VihorlatPhoto gallery Sninský kameňPhoto gallery Inversion – Vihorlat, Sninský kameň
(photos of Vihorlat and Sninský kameň)
Vihorlat PLA
a
Slovakia.travel

Vihorlat PLA at The Slovak State Nature Conservancy
{{Authority control Protected areas of Slovakia Protected areas established in 1973 Geography of Prešov Region Tourist attractions in Prešov Region Geography of Košice Region Tourist attractions in Košice Region

History

Geography, geology and biology

Gallery

See also

References

External links