SLOVAKIA- PIENINY

During our project work on Comenius project Let stones speak:rocking around our European heritage we visited the most interesting part of the Pieniny Klippen Belt and the adjacent areas of the Central Carpathian Paleogene and Western Flysch Carpathians. The specificity of the Pieniny Klippen Belt is that it is a unique area with a complex geological structure resulting from its multi- stage history. The park’s core belongs to the Polish Pieniny National Park (Pieniński Park Narodowy) and its Slovak equivalent the Pieninský Narodný Park.
The area is composed mainly of several successions of mainly deep and shallow-
water limestones, covering a time span from the Early Jurassic to Late Cretaceous.
Pieniny attract millions of tourists. Well sculptured towering peaks, deep valleys and ravines, scenic river gorges and interesting outcrops of rocks
containing fossils like ammonites, bivalves, crinoids and brachiopods represent the major attractions.

PLACES TO STAY IN PIENINY( CERVENY KLASTOR):
1. Guesthouse Pltnik- http://www.penzionpltnik.sk/index_eng.php?lang=eng
2. Goral grange- Chalets+ campsite: http://www.goralskydvor.sk/en/camp/
3. Dunajec village- Cerveny Klastor

Other places of interest:
1. Monastery in Cerveny Klastor: Ancient linden trees spread out between the monastery and Dunajec River. The statue of St Anthony dating from the 18th century is located between these trees. The monastery and village name is derived from the red roof of the complex.
The monastery construction, which started in 1330 was financed by Hungarian noble Kokos Berzevici as well as by Polish king Kazimierz and Queen Jadwiga. The Camelot order constructed new houses, hospital and famous apothecary in XVIIIth century. The brother Cyprian (Franz Ignatz Jäschke) belonged to the Camelots. He was known as flying monk, because the Pieniny Highlanders believed that he was a sorcerer, which could fly. He used the home-made wings to fly from Trzy Korony Mountain to the Monastery
2. Dunajec river gorge- The Dunajec River is meandering among the several hundred meters high cliffs. At Sromowce Niżne village Dunajec River is entering Pieniny Klippen Belt. Here below the magnificent limestone walls of Trzy Korony Mountain (982 m), the highest mountain group of the Pieniny Mts., begins the most beautiful part of the Pieniny Mountains –the Dunajec River Gorge.
The magnificent panorama from the Trzy Korony (Three Crowns) Mountain allows to access tote Southern Poland and Slovakia mountain ranges: PieninyMountains, Tatra Mountains, Spiska Magura, Sądecki Beskid and Gorce. This site is formed by very strongly folded usually vertical cherty Pieniny limestones (Maiolica or
Biancone), Trzy Korony is visited by thousands of tourist every year.
3. Village of Vysne Ruzbachy- anyone interested in sculptures can visit an international symposium- it´s an open air museum of stone sculptures made of local travertine in the former travertine quarry. The artists have worked on it for over 50 years. There are over 100 sculptures on site at the moment. Another place worth visiting are travertine craters in Vysne Ruzbachy. The craters of Ružbachy have nothing to do with volcanoes or volcanic eruptions. They are results of the collapsed travertine monticules, which precipitated around the mineral springs rich in calcium.
There are four big and several small travertine craters in the spa of Vyšné Ružbachy. Kráter is the most popular among them. Its diameter is 20 metres and it is two to three metres deep. It is the biggest travertine lake in Slovakia.