practical information on the town of Zakopane and the region
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Tatra Mountains

discover - Poprad Vysoke Tatry

the Tatra Mountains


The Tatras are Poland's only alpine-type mountains, indeed forming the highest part of the huge transboundary arc that is SE Europe's Carpathian chain. They cover just 785 km2, being only 57 km long in a straight line, and as little as 19 km wide. Yet they have a true mountain feel about them, rising to their highest elevation at 2654m Gerlach, on the Slovakian side. The Tatras are (...) conventionally divided into the Western Tatras, High Tatras and White Tatras. As has been implied, they form part of the state border between Poland and Slovakia that leaves just one-fifth (175 km2) on the Polish side, albeit with several fragments of extreme beauty and a highest summit - the north-western apex of Rysy - at an impressive 2499 m a.s.l.

by Maciek Krupa

The Tatra National Park (TPN) was founded on 1954, has a surface of over 21.000 ha and is one of the largest national parks in Poland.
Worth knowing: the world's first statue for the protection of particular animal species was initiated to protect Tatran mountain goat (kozica) and Tatran marmot (świstak). In 1968 Regionail Parliament in Lwów passed an act prohibiting hunting of these animals.

mountain goat