Plitvice Lakes

If any place on earth is a natural paradise, Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia is that place. Of all Croatia's eight National Parks, Plitvice is the oldest and most visited and it is easy to see why. Bears and wolves lurk in its primeval forest; schools of silvery fish dart through its pristine rivers; its beech trees house a cacophony of chattering birds. The crown jewels are the 16 translucent lakes connected to each other by a breathtaking series of cascades. Unbelievably now this exceptional site was a war zone during the breakup of former Yugoslavia.

 

The lakes are situated on the eponymous Plitvice plateau, between the mountains of Lička Plješevica (Gornja Plješevica peak 1,640 m), Mala Kapela (Seliški Vrh peak at 1,280 m) and Medveđak (884 m). The sixteen lakes are separated into an upper and lower cluster formed by run off from the mountains, descending from an altitude of 636 m to 503 m over a distance of some eight km, aligned in a south-north direction. The lakes collectively cover an area of about two km², with the water exiting from the lowest lake to form the Korana River.

 

 

The lakes are renowned for their distinctive colours, ranging from azure to green, grey or blue. The colours change constantly depending on the quantity of minerals or organisms in the water and the angle of sunlight.

 

The Plitvice lakes lie in a basin of karstic rock, mainly dolomite and limestone, which has given rise to their most distinctive feature.   The lakes are separated by natural travertine dams deposited by the actions of moss, algae and bacteria.   The encrusted plants and bacteria accumulate on top of one another forming the travertine barriers which grow at a rate of approximately 1cm per year.