Aggtelek National Park

48°28′32.628″N 20°29′12.732″E / 48.47573000°N 20.48687000°E / 48.47573000; 20.48687000Area198.92 km² (76.80 sq mi)Established1985

UNESCO World Heritage Site

TypeNaturalCriteriaviiiDesignated1995Reference no.725RegionEastern Europe

Aggtelek National Park (Hungarian: Aggteleki Nemzeti Park) is a national park in Northern Hungary, in the Aggtelek Karst region. The most significant values of the national park are the special surface formations and caves in this limestone landscape.^[1]

Description

The park consists of 280 caves with different sizes.^[1] It covers a total area of 198.92 km² of which 39.22 km² are under increased protection. The largest stalactite cave of Europe is situated in this area: the Baradla cave (26 km long, of which 8 km is in Slovakia, known under the name of Domica). Several of the caves have different specialities. For example, the Peace Cave has a sanatorium which help treating people suffering from asthma.

History

The first written documentation of the caves can be dated back to 1549. Since 1920 it has been used as a tourist attraction. The Aggtelek National Park itself was founded in 1985. It has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage since 1995 along with the Slovak Karst caves.^[1]

Fauna

Animals present in the Aggtelek National Park included the fire salamander, hucul pony, common buzzard, eastern imperial eagle, European copper skink, white-throated dipper, red deer, Eurasian lynx, gray wolf, wild boar, crested tit, goldcrest, Eurasian bullfinch, hazel grouse, common kingfisher, red-backed shrike, old World swallowtail, scarce swallowtail and the saga pedo.