!!!Plitvice Lakes National Park in Winter
Photos by Sergey Shandin and Stas Sedov,
members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\
28 March 2017
with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]
Plitvice Lakes National Park is located in the central part of Croatia
and covers an expanse of almost 30,000 hectares. In 1949 this area
became the national park, and 30 years later it was added to the UNESCO
World Heritage Register. The park is forested with beech, spruce, and
fir; and is the home for hundreds of species of plants, animals and
birds. But it is mainly known for its water areas: rivers flowing
through the limestone carved the landscape and formed natural dams,
cascades of lakes, waterfalls and caves.
[{Image src='01_Plitvice Lakes.jpg' caption='Plitvice Lakes National Park in winter, Croatia\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='601'}]
There are 16 large karst lakes and a lot of smaller ones; the total area
of their coverage is 217 hectares. These lakes are fed by five rivers:
the Korana, the Crna, the Bijela and the Rjecica. The lakes are arranged
in cascades, the highest one is the Prošcansko at 636 meters above sea
level. The lowest one is lake Novakovica-Brod at an altitude of 503
meters.
[{Image src='02_Plitvice Lakes.jpg' caption='Plitvice Lakes National Park in winter, Croatia\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='601'}]
There are more than one hundred waterfalls in the park and new ones
appear annually. This process is the result of the way the travertine
barriers are formed: these barriers are made not from rocks, but from
the deposition of plants. The trees and branches fallen in the water get
calcified and create solid depositions blocking rivers. The water
gradually erodes the dams giving the way to new waterfalls. Sastavci is
considered to be the most beautiful one with a height of 72 meters.
[{Image src='03_Plitvice Lakes.jpg' caption='Plitvice Lakes National Park in winter, Croatia\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='601'}]
One more interesting feature of the national park is its caves; some of
them being located right under the waterfalls. Sometimes they bear
rather strange names: Šupljara ("cave without floor and ceiling",
"hole-cave"), Crna pecina ("black cave"), Mracna ("sombre cave"). The
bats living in these caves among stalactites and stalagmites can vouch
for the accuracy of the names!
[{Image src='04_Plitvice Lakes.jpg' caption='Plitvice Lakes National Park in winter, Croatia\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='601'}]
The park had been inaccessible to visitors until 1958, but then the
tourist infrastructure began developing. Pavements and footpaths were
created, routes for diesel and eco-friendly electrical trains, ferries
and boats were developed. The park is a popular destination during the
warm season. It's a pleasure to watch multi-coloured landscapes,
emerald-green water and trees featuring all shades of green.
[{Image src='05_Plitvice Lakes.jpg' caption='Plitvice Lakes National Park in winter, Croatia\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='601'}]
In winter, nature falls into slumber, but it still reveals all kinds of
its beauty. The bright colours are replaced by sparkling whiteness, the
waterfalls are frozen and the trees bend under the weight of snow; these
landscapes seem to have leapt from the pages of a fairytale. The AirPano
team wants to show you the Plitvice Lakes just exactly as they are:
gorgeous and elegant.
\\ \\
[18 panoramas of Plitvice Lakes National Park in Winter|Geography/Europe/Croatia/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Plitvice_Lakes_National_Park_in_Winter]
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