Plitvice - Water necklace with 16 jewels

Drowned shepherds, gypsies, old women and goats
"Once upon a time, the area of today's lakes was affected by a severe drought. People, animals and plants were desperately waiting for at least a drop of water. The population prayed constantly. Suddenly, the Black Queen appeared in the valley with a mighty retinue. She took pity on the population and summoned rain, which finally soaked the earth with strong wind and thunder. It rained so long that the water rose and formed lakes.” The current fairy tale is, of course, a legend about the creation of sixteen beautiful lakes located in Lika, Croatia, between Mala Kapela and Plješivica, but on some old maps the name Devil's Garden still appears, as there are legends and stories that shortened the long winters for the inhabitants of Lika night, still alive. The sixteen lakes, which are divided into twelve upper and four lower, were named after various events that took place by and on the lakes, and most often after drowned people. Thus, the name Ciganovac means that a gypsy drowned in the lake, the shepherd Mili is said to have drowned in Lake Milanovac, and a herd of goats in Lake Kozjak, which is said to have crossed the lake on too thin ice. During a walk by the lakes, in addition to the stories of drowned people, we can learn about the stories of hermits who lived in the cliffs and caves around the lakes, about lost treasures, as well as about the power of water that creates whirlpools and roaring waterfalls.

Living nature
The water, which has flowed over the calcareous soil for thousands of years, deposits dissolved limestone in the form of tufted barriers, through which from the highest lying Prošćanje lake, at 636 meters above sea level, falls in waterfalls and cascades to the lowest lake, which lies 133 meters below. Of course, it is only a matter of height difference in the location of the lakes, because fortunately for the visitors of the national park, nature has distributed the beauty of the sixteen lakes and waterfalls into a wonderful, an eight kilometer long necklace. Due to the chemical composition of karst soils, limestone and dolomites, there is water Plitvice Lakes enriched with calcium carbonate. On the way through the underground, the waters encounter obstacles - impermeable walls, along which they flow to the surface and thus form numerous rivulets and streams that enrich the lakes with water. The most important are the springs Black and White rivers. The twelve upper lakes were formed on an impermeable base, while the four lower lakes, hollowed in a canyon in the limestone ground, are part of a permeable zone where water sinks and is lost underground through many cracks. Because Upper lakes lying in impermeable dolomite, they are larger, deeper and calmer, while the lower four are smaller and wilder thanks to the limestone. The natural process of depositing the reed barriers, which are formed by limestone-coated mosses, algae and bacteria, is still ongoing, as the barriers grow about one centimeter a year, which means that the Plitvice Lakes are alive and changing - spawning nature. In addition to waterfalls, visitors to the national park, which is open all year round, are also surprised by the color of the lakes, which change from azure blue to green, gray or dark blue. The color of the lakes changes depending on the number of minerals or microorganisms in the water and also depending on the sun or the angle at which the sun's rays reach the surface of the lakes. Another surprise that awaits us when we meet the lake surface is the incredible clarity and visibility, as in some places we can see eight meters deep.

Lots of restrictions for immense enjoyment
Scientist who studied the process of formation of tuber barriers, academician Ivo Pevalek, wrote in 1926: "The fate of the Plitvice Lakes lies in the cypress and the organisms that form it: algae and mosses..." The miracle of the national park and of course the condition for the existence of the Plitvice Lakes is therefore the continuous creation of phytogenic cypress, which can only be created in pristine nature . That's exactly why it's in the area Plitvice Lakes National Park almost any activity is prohibited except walking by the lakes and enjoying the beautiful nature. The trails around the lakes start at two entrances to the park, depending on which part of the lakes we want to visit. At both entrances, a huge sign awaits us, where the administration of this Croatian natural pearl makes it clear that it wants to leave the lake area as beautiful as it is today to posterity. So let's not think about swimming, feeding fish, walking off marked trails, wild camping or picking flowers. We prefer to take the road under our feet and perhaps only with the help of a camera can we forever imprint the beauty of the lakes and surroundings on our memories.

The road underfoot
The paths around the lakes are well-maintained and adapted to visitors of all ages. If we decide to enter the park through input number 1, we will first be greeted by a huge map where we can see the location of the lakes and the paths along them. In addition to the cafe, shop and information center, at entrance 1 you can also watch a 15-minute long film, which is a nice introduction to getting to know the national park. Just a few steps from the entrance, a beautiful view of the lower lakes opens up from the viewpoint Big waterfall, which forms waterfalls with lake water Composers, with which the river begins its course Koran. We have several options from the vantage point. We can continue the journey along the upper path towards the first train station. This allows guests to more easily reach the starting points on the lower and upper lakes. Or we can go down towards the lakes and start following the signs that direct us towards the boat. You can extend the walk below Veliki Slap or just follow the path along and across the lower lakes. After about an hour's walk, we will walk to a beautiful clearing at Lake Kozjak, where you can have lunch or a picnic or surrender to the warm rays of the sun. An electric boat will take us to a point on the other side of the lake, from where we can start exploring the upper lakes or climb more than three hundred steps to entrance 2, which is located in close proximity to the second train station and hotels Lake, Bellvue and Plitvice. The walk along the upper lakes is particularly spectacular because of the beautiful waterfalls, under and above which a well-maintained path leads us. You can end it at the third train stop or walk to the highest of the upper lakes and walk back to entrance 1 or 2 from the fourth train stop.

Back to nature or to a soft bed
The Plitvice Lakes National Park is not limited to the area of the lakes, which stretch over approximately two square kilometers. The entire area of the park covers just 29,685 hectares, mainly forest areas. In addition to private accommodation in 19 settlements in the national park, there are three largest hotels in the immediate vicinity of the lakes, which were renovated after the end of the war in 1995. The Jezero, Bellvue and Plitvice hotels also host the largest number of guests of the national park (more than 860,000 visited the park in 2006 visitors). Foreigners who travel in organized groups usually take only half a day to see the lakes, but all of us who know that the summer heat is more bearable in the cool shade of centuries-old forests and near crystal clear lakes, take at least two days to see the Plitvice Lakes . Since the prices for overnight stays in the hotels in the park are high, nature lovers prefer to sleep in the hotels themselves Camping Korana, 7 kilometers north of the park entrance, or drive to a place twelve kilometers away Grabovac, where, in addition to the Hotel Grabovac, we can find many options for staying in rooms and apartments rented out by local residents. The road that leads through the park was once the most important connection between the largest Croatian cities Zagreb and Split, which is why there were countless restaurants along the way that offered the delicacies of Liska cuisine. But the war in Croatia between 1992 and 1995, which also raged in the area of the national park, destroyed most of the tourist infrastructure, and the highway leading to Dalmatia avoided the area of the park, so catering in Characters he is only slowly waking up. Every year, new restaurants and accommodation options open near the park, and we can happily look to the future, when we will once again get to know the beauties of Croatia by driving on regional roads and tasting local cheeses, meats and desserts rather than on the highway.