Ojców National Park

Ogólne informacje

Ojców National Park is a national park in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, established in 1956. It takes its name from the village of Ojców, where it also has its headquarters. Chopin visited Ojców in 1829.It is Poland's smallest national park, with an original area of 14.40km2, since expanded to 21.46km2. Of this area, 15.28km2 is forested and 2.51km2 is strictly protected. The park is approximately 16km north of Kraków, in the Jurassic Kraków-Częstochowa Upland.GeographyKarst topography of soluble bedrock characterizes the park, which in addition to two river (the Prądnik and Saspówka) valleys contains numerous limestone cliffs, ravines, and over 400 caves. The largest of these, Łokietek's Cave (said to have sheltered King Władysław I Łokietek, for whom it was named), is 320m deep. The area is also noted for its rock formations, the most famous being Hercules' Club, a 25m-high limestone column.