Greater Fatra
Encyclopedia
Greater Fatra or Veľká Fatra (Slovak
) is a mountain range
in the Western Carpathians
in Slovakia
. In the geomorphological system, it is a part of the Fatra-Tatra Area. It is situated approximately among the towns of Ružomberok
, Harmanec
, Turčianske Teplice
and Martin
. The Turiec Basin and the Lesser Fatra
mountains are situated to the north west of the range and the Low Tatras mountains are in the east. It can be divided into seven parts: Šípska Fatra, Šiprúň, Lysec, Hôľna Fatra, Revúcke podolie, Zvolen and Bralná Fatra.
The highest mountain is Ostredok
at . Other notable summits of the largest Hôľna Fatra part are Krížna at and Ploská
at , where the main ridge divides into two. The western Turiec Ridge includes, for example, Borišov
at , and the eastern Liptov Ridge includes, for example, Rakytov
at . Bralná Fatra includes Tlstá
at and Ostrá
at summits. The Zvolen massif connects the Greater Fatra Range with the Low Tatra
Range. One of the largest ski resorts in Slovakia - Skipark Ružomberok and Donovaly
- lies beneath it. There are several other tourist and skiing resorts in the range.
A considerable part of the range is made of various Mesozoic
rocks. The central part and the main ridge are made up of non-resistant rocks (slate
s) and the relief is softly modeled (Ploská, Ostredok). The southern and south-western part is formed by resistant limestone
and dolomite
with rocky walls and reefs. The ridges are usually separated by canyon-like valleys. The most important ones are Gader Valley
(Gaderská dolina) and Blatnica Valley (Blatnická dolina). The longest valley is the Ľubochňa Valley (Ľubochnianska dolina) at 25 km. Numerous karst
formations are located in this area and the Harmanec Cave is one of the best known caves in Slovakia.
Nearly 90% of the area is covered by forests – beech
and beech-fir
forests, in some places replaced by spruce
plantations and relics of pine
s. The area of Harmanec is the richest yew
-tree site in Europe. The original natural upper borderline of forests was lowered during the Wallachian colonization. There are many extensive upland pastures, where cattle is raised in the summer.
Most of the area was protected by the Veľká Fatra Protected Landscape Area since 1973, and the most valuable parts are included in the Veľká Fatra National Park
since 2002. The rest of the former protected landscape area serves as a buffer zone now.
The ruins of Blatnický
and Sklabinský castles are located in this area. Also, the traditional architecture of Vlkolínec
(a UNESCO's World Heritage Site
) and Liptovské Revúce
and the Ľubochňa
and Turčianske Teplice
spas can be found here.
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
) is a mountain range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
in the Western Carpathians
Western Carpathians
The Western Carpathians are a mountain range and geomorphological province that forms the western part of the Carpathian Mountains.The mountain belt stretches from the Low Beskids range of the Eastern Carpathians along the border of Poland with Slovakia toward the Moravian region of the Czech...
in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. In the geomorphological system, it is a part of the Fatra-Tatra Area. It is situated approximately among the towns of Ružomberok
Ružomberok
Ružomberok is a town in northern Slovakia, in the historical Liptov region. It has a population of around 30,000-Geography:...
, Harmanec
Harmanec
Harmanec is a village and municipality in Banská Bystrica District in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia.-Geography:The municipality lies at an altitude of 486 metres and covers an area of 7.757km². It has a population of about 918 people....
, Turčianske Teplice
Turcianske Teplice
Turčianske Teplice is a town in central Slovakia in the Žilina Region. It is about halfway between Martin and Kremnica. As of 2005 the town's population was 6,941...
and Martin
Martin, Slovakia
Martin is a city in northern Slovakia, situated on the Turiec river, between the Malá Fatra and Veľká Fatra mountains, near the city of Žilina. The population numbers approximately 58,000, which makes it the eighth largest city in Slovakia...
. The Turiec Basin and the Lesser Fatra
Lesser Fatra
Lesser Fatra is a mountain range in the Western Carpathians in the north-west of Central Slovakia. In the geomorphological system, it is a part of the Fatra-Tatra Area....
mountains are situated to the north west of the range and the Low Tatras mountains are in the east. It can be divided into seven parts: Šípska Fatra, Šiprúň, Lysec, Hôľna Fatra, Revúcke podolie, Zvolen and Bralná Fatra.
The highest mountain is Ostredok
Ostredok
Ostredok is the highest mountain of the Greater Fatra Range, Slovakia, measuring . It lies in the Hôlna Fatra part of the range which is typical by its deforested and rather flat gentle summits not rising much above the main ridge. Its south-western is rather steep with big danger of snow...
at . Other notable summits of the largest Hôľna Fatra part are Krížna at and Ploská
Ploská
Ploská is a mountain in the Hôlna Fatra part of the Greater Fatra Range in Slovakia measuring . It lies on the main ridge, to South it continues to Ostredok and Krížna mountains, to the North it divides into the lower western Turiec Ridge and higher eastern Liptov Ridge...
at , where the main ridge divides into two. The western Turiec Ridge includes, for example, Borišov
Borišov
Borišov is a mountain in the Greater Fatra Range in Slovakia measuring 1,508.5 m . Its summit is deforested, covered in grass. On the southern side there is one of the largest avalanche slopes in Slovakia...
at , and the eastern Liptov Ridge includes, for example, Rakytov
Rakytov
Rakytov is a mountain in the Liptov Ridge of the Greater Fatra Range in Slovakia measuring . It has a regular pyramidal shape, the top of the mountatin is deforested, in places with secondary Mountain Pine....
at . Bralná Fatra includes Tlstá
Tlstá
Tlstá is a mountain in the Bralná Fatra part of the Greater Fatra Range, measuring . It is located over the Turiec Valley, rising steaply nearly above the valley bottom. It has rugged slopes with many rock spires and rock terraces under the grass-covered summit...
at and Ostrá
Ostrá
Ostrá is a mountain in the Greater Fatra Range of Slovakia measuring . It has two very rugged summits with an excellent view over the Turiec Valley and the opposite Tlstá Mountain....
at summits. The Zvolen massif connects the Greater Fatra Range with the Low Tatra
Low Tatra
The Low Tatras or Low Tatra is a mountain range of the Inner Western Carpathians in central Slovakia.It is located south of the Tatras proper, from which it is separated by the valleys of the Váh and Poprad rivers . The valley formed by the Hron River is situated south of the Low Tatras range...
Range. One of the largest ski resorts in Slovakia - Skipark Ružomberok and Donovaly
Donovaly
Donovaly is a village in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. Being situated in an important pass between the mountains of Veľká Fatra and Starohorské vrchy, on the route connecting Banská Bystrica with Ružomberok, it became a prominent centre of winter and summer...
- lies beneath it. There are several other tourist and skiing resorts in the range.
A considerable part of the range is made of various Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
rocks. The central part and the main ridge are made up of non-resistant rocks (slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
s) and the relief is softly modeled (Ploská, Ostredok). The southern and south-western part is formed by resistant limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
with rocky walls and reefs. The ridges are usually separated by canyon-like valleys. The most important ones are Gader Valley
Gaderská Valley
Gader Valley is a long valley in the Greater Fatra Range in Central Slovakia. It is accessible from the village of Blatnica. The valley is the gateway to the peaks of Tlstá and Ostrá. Its upper part, from the merger with the Selenec Valley, is named Dedošová....
(Gaderská dolina) and Blatnica Valley (Blatnická dolina). The longest valley is the Ľubochňa Valley (Ľubochnianska dolina) at 25 km. Numerous karst
KARST
Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...
formations are located in this area and the Harmanec Cave is one of the best known caves in Slovakia.
Nearly 90% of the area is covered by forests – beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
and beech-fir
Fir
Firs are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range...
forests, in some places replaced by spruce
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
plantations and relics of pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
s. The area of Harmanec is the richest yew
Taxus baccata
Taxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be now known as the English yew, or European yew.-Description:It is a small-...
-tree site in Europe. The original natural upper borderline of forests was lowered during the Wallachian colonization. There are many extensive upland pastures, where cattle is raised in the summer.
Most of the area was protected by the Veľká Fatra Protected Landscape Area since 1973, and the most valuable parts are included in the Veľká Fatra National Park
Velká Fatra National Park
Veľká Fatra National Park is a National Park in Slovakia. Most of it lies in the southern part of the Žilina Region and a small part in the northern part of Banská Bystrica Region...
since 2002. The rest of the former protected landscape area serves as a buffer zone now.
The ruins of Blatnický
Blatnica, Slovakia
Blatnica is a village and municipality in the Turiec region of Slovakia. Administratively it is a part of the Martin District in the Žilina Region. The village is situated under the Greater Fatra Range, at the opening of the spectacular karst Gader and Blatnica valleys...
and Sklabinský castles are located in this area. Also, the traditional architecture of Vlkolínec
Vlkolínec
Vlkolínec, Slovakia, is a picturesque village under the administration of the town of Ružomberok. Historically, however, it was a separate village. The first written mention of the village came from 1376 and after 1882 it became part of Ružomberok. Its name is probably derived from the Slovak word...
(a UNESCO's World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
) and Liptovské Revúce
Liptovské Revúce
Liptovské Revúce is a large village and municipality in Ružomberok District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia.-Geography:The municipality lies at an altitude of 680 metres and covers an area of 76.914km². It has a population of about 1690 people....
and the Ľubochňa
Lubochna
Ľubochňa is a village and municipality in Ružomberok District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia.-Geography:The municipality lies at an altitude of 451 metres and covers an area of 113.679 km². It has a population of about 1042 people....
and Turčianske Teplice
Turcianske Teplice
Turčianske Teplice is a town in central Slovakia in the Žilina Region. It is about halfway between Martin and Kremnica. As of 2005 the town's population was 6,941...
spas can be found here.
Viewpoints
- Rakytov (1,567 m)
- Krížna (1,574 m) - the best view of the southern mountains - Kremnické vrchy, PoľanaPolanaPolana may refer to the following places in Poland:*Polana, Lower Silesian Voivodeship *Polana, Bieszczady County in Subcarpathian Voivodeship *Polana, Opole Voivodeship...
, VtáčnikVtácnikVtáčnik is a mountain range in central Slovakia, which is part of the Slovenské stredohorie Mountains and part of the Inner Western Carpathians.... - Tlstá (1,208 m) - view of Turiec basinTuriec BasinThe Turiec Basin is located in the northern part of central Slovakia, within the Fatra-Tatra Area of the Inner Western Carpathians.The basin is delimited by the mountain ranges of Veľká Fatra to the east, Malá Fatra to the west and north, as well as Žiar and Kremnica Mountains to the south. The...