{"id":49,"date":"2019-01-26T12:34:38","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T12:34:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baricdraga.com.hr\/?page_id=49"},"modified":"2019-01-26T14:00:58","modified_gmt":"2019-01-26T14:00:58","slug":"magnificent-view","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/baricdraga.com.hr\/?page_id=49&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Magnificent view"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Velebit is the \nlargest mountain in Croatia and is a part of a bigger mountain chain of\n Dinarides stretching form the Alps, across Croatia, Bosnia and \nHerzegovina and Montenegro to Albania. The area of Velebit Mountain \ncomprises 2.359 square kilometres. The mountain stretches in the form \nof slightly bended arch along the Adriatic coast in the \nnorthwest-southeast direction, between the Vratnik pass and the river \nZrmanja valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The mountain is\n approximately 145 km long, its width varying form 30 km at the \nnorthern parts to 10 km at its southern parts. On its western parts, \nVelebit Mountain chain raises sharply from the sea, dominating over the\n landscape. Towards the east, its slopes descend more mildly into the \nplateau of Lika, situated between 425 and 600 meters above the sea \nlevel. The highest peak of the Velebit Mountain is Vaganski vrh (1757 m\n a. s. l.) in Paklenica National Park. Geographically, Velebit can be \ndivided roughly into four parts. Mountain passes Vratnik, Veliki Alan, \nBa\u0161ke O\u0161tarije and Prezid divide northern, middle and southern parts. \nIn southeastern parts, mountain massif stretches towards the inland \nalong the river Zrmanja canyon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Velebit is \ntypical karst mountain, composed largely of carbonate rocks. All types \nof karst phenomena as well as their transitional stages can be observed\n on Velebit Mountain, both on the surface and in the underground. Among\n surface karst phenomena are: Karren, sinkholes (“ponikve”), karst \nplanes, uvalas, dolina, bogazes, denuded karst peaks (“kukovi”), \ncolumns, ice-pits, canyons, karst rivers with travertine (Zrmanja, \nKrupa), karst springs, lakes and abysses. Subterranean karst phenomena \nare equally diverse and interesting, deep pits, caves, underground \nlakes and submarine springs (“vrulje”) being among the most \ninteresting. The mountain itself is scarce with water, karst springs \nand surface watercourses are rare, especially in the northern and \nmiddle parts. Despite of that, inside the Velebit massif there are huge\n freshwater reserves. Karst rivers in the continental side of Velebit \n(first of all Lika and Gacka), disappear underground just in front of \nthe Velebit massif, finding their way through it towards the Adriatic \nSea. There they emerge again as the costal springs and special form of \nsubmarine springs (“vrulje”).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The water is by\n far one of the most important factors that, by dissolving the \ncarbonate rocks, shaped the Velebit karst, as it is today, both on the \nsurface and in the underground. In Velebit area about 90 different \nhabitat types, according to the CORINE classification, can be \ndistinguished, some 20 of them in Paklenica National park alone. That \nis about 70% of all habitat types found in Croatia. The most \nconspicuous feature of Velebit Mountain is the presence of the “two \ndifferent faces” \u2013 one on the Adriatic coastal slopes and one on the \ncontinental slopes. The differences between them can be observed in the\n variety of features \u2013 vegetation, habitats and species, as well as in \nthe habits of people living there. From the foothill to the \nmountaintops, vertical zoning of the vegetation belts can be clearly \nseen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Velebit has \nvery high biological diversity, due to very diverse habitats but also \nto the fact that some part of the mountain acted as refugia for \nnumerous species during glaciations in the past. Some 2500 plant \nspecies have been described, about hundred being endemic. Special, \nisolated habitats with extreme conditions, such as mountaintops, rock \ncrevices, subterranean habitats and submarine springs favoured the \ndevelopment of specific flora and fauna. Among them, endemic genus of \nleech (Croatobranchus mestrovi) can be pointed out due to its specific \necology and the level of adaptations to extreme life conditions \u2013 so \nfar, it has been found exclusively in the very deep pits in Sjeverni \nVelebit National Park. All the above contributed to the development of \ndiverse landscapes on the Velebit Mountain that create an extraordinary\n appealing mosaic. Because of its multiple natural values, Velebit \nMountain has been attracting the attention of both domestic and \ninternational scientists and experts, for a long time. First official \nattempts to protect the area date back to the late 20-ies of the last \ncentury. At that time, forests of \u0160tirovaca and Paklenica were declared\n as national parks. According to the law, this status should have been \nreaffirmed on a yearly basis. Since that had not been the case, both \nareas had lost their status of protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the \nSecond World War, in 1949, Paklenica National Park was established in \nthe southern part of Velebit, around two impressive canyons (of Velika \nand Mala Paklenica). International recognition was expressed in 1978, \nwhen the whole mountain became a Biosphere Reserve, within the UNESCO’s\n Man and Biosphere Program (MAB). After that, mountain was declared a \nNature Park, its boundaries more or less corresponding to those of the \nBiosphere Reserve. To summarize, both Paklenica and Sjeverni Velebit \nNational Park are situated within the borders of Velebit Nature Park \nthat comprises almost the whole Velebit Mountain, and is a Biosphere \nReserve in the same time. There is also a series of other smaller \nprotected areas of different status, inside the three parks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most \nimportant is Hajducki and Ro\u017eanski kukovi Strict Reserve, within \nSjeverni Velebit National Park. It is globally significant as one of \nthe world’s most famous localities of very deep, vertical speleological\n objects \u2013 pits. More than 200 entrances have been discovered so far, \nat the area of only 12 square kilometres. The deepest and most famous \nis Luka’s pit (-1392 m), being 11th in the world, its bottom \n(water-filled siphon) being situated at only 80 m above the sea level. \nSome other protected properties are present: special reserve of forest \nvegetation (Klepina duliba), special botanical reserves (Visibaba and \nZavi\u017ean-Balinovac-Velika kosa), geomorphologic nature monuments \n(Cerovacke caves and Modric cave), protected landscape (Zavratnica), \npaleontological nature monument (Velnicka glavica) and several \narchaeological and paleontological localities. Through the history, \ntraditional economic activities on the Velebit Mountain have been \ncattle breeding in the first place, and forestry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the \nscarcity of arable land, agriculture had never played a very important \nrole. Along the coast, fishery was important activity. There are no \nmajor industrial plants in the area, not even today. Over the past \ndecades, tourism has developed and became major source of income in the\n costal area. Besides its natural values, the cultural heritage of \nVelebit Mountain is equally rich and precious. Evidence of human \npresence can be followed from prehistoric times until present days, \nespecially in the lower parts of the mountain, with milder climate. \nThere are valuable archaeological sites from Stone and Iron Age (Jatara\n and Vaganacka cave), as well as finding places of the Roman glass \u2013 \nArgyruntum. Because of the harsh climate, in the top parts of Velebit \nthere had never been permanent settlements. However, people from the \nmountain villages on the coastal slopes, used to bring their cattle \nthere for grazing in summer periods, as the snow line would be \nwithdrawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the \nmountain, they used to build the so-called summer lodges. They are \nplentiful on Velebit Mountain, and the locality called Mirovo, situated\n in Sjeverni Velebit National Park is one of the biggest and most \nimpressive complexes. uring short summer periods they would work the \nsmall patches of land they cleared off of rocks, bushes and trees. To \nbuild both their houses and the summer lodges, they used the most \nabundant material available \u2013 the stones. In some cases, the \nsettlements are so well preserved so that they can be regarded as \nethno-villages, like the hamlet Marasovici near the entrance to \nPaklenica National park. Velebit mountain passes were very important \ncommunication and trading routes between the coast and the inland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The roads build\n for that purpose are the masterpieces of the building heritage and \nstone-carving skills. The part of this rich heritage are numerous wells\n and springs, water-mills, sacral objects, traditional trails and \n“mirila” \u2013 these are specially arranged stones along the Velebit \ntraditional trails where people used to take some rest during the \ntransport of their dead from the mountain towards its foothill. This is\n a specific cultural heritage in this area. Long-lasting influence of \nhuman presence was at most cases “sustainable”, and people lived in the\n harmony with the mountain nature, although such a living was sometimes\n very hard. Even more, by grazing their cattle, by building ponds and \nstonewalls, man had created favourable new habitats, thus contributing \nsignificantly to the present attractiveness of landscapes and \nbiological diversity in the Velebit Mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Although \nrelatively preserved form the negative impact of human activities, \nVelebit Mountain has recently been exposed to the different sorts of \ndevelopmental pressures, from the road constructions and uncontrolled \nbuilding in the costal area, to the overuse of natural resources. \nObviously, the influence of global factors, such as climate change and \ntransboundary aerial pollution is unavoidable. The perspective of the \nVelebit Mountain is thus seen in the better and more efficient \nprotection of all its resources. For the inclusion in the World \nHeritage List, the area within the present borders of Velebit Nature \nPark is proposed. Administratively, proposed item belongs to the \nterritory of three Counties (Licko-Senjska, Zadarska and \n\u0160ibensko-Kninska). The total size of the proposed area is approximately\n 2000 square kilometers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Velebit is the largest mountain in Croatia and is a part of a bigger mountain chain of Dinarides stretching form the Alps, across Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to Albania. The area of Velebit Mountain comprises 2.359 square kilometres. The mountain stretches in the form of slightly bended arch along the Adriatic coast in … Nastavi \u010ditati “Magnificent view”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-49","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baricdraga.com.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baricdraga.com.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baricdraga.com.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baricdraga.com.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baricdraga.com.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/baricdraga.com.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142,"href":"https:\/\/baricdraga.com.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49\/revisions\/142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baricdraga.com.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}