Aggtelek National Park

About

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.

Description: The park consists of 280 caves with different sizes. 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.

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...