Muránska planina

Muráň Plateau National Park was established in 1997 in central Slovakia and protects some 203 km². The area had been a protected landscape reserve since 1976.

Its core is a raised limestone plateau, heavily karstified, with more than four hundred catalogued caves and shafts, dolines, gorges and isolated rock formations. On that substrate and at a biogeographical crossroads, an exceptionally rich flora has developed, with endemics found only in the massif, among them several species first described here.

The park's most characteristic feature is a herd of Hucul horses living semi-wild on the plateau. The Hucul is a primitive Carpathian breed, hardy and short in stature, traditionally used as a pack animal in the mountains, and the Muráň herd is one of the reference studs for its genetic conservation. The beech and fir woods covering the slopes are home to brown bear, wolf, lynx and a complete forest birdlife, and on the plateau stand the ruins of Muráň castle, one of the highest fortresses in Slovakia.