Mala Kapela
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The Kapela mountain ( Kapela, literally " Mountain Chapel ") is a 130 km high wooded mountain range in Croatia. The mountain range extends in the northeast -southwest direction approximately 30 km inland from the Adriatic coast and forms a watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Danube. In the north it extends to near the border with Slovenia, where it adjoins the ridge Gorski Kotar.
The northern section of the Kapela is called Velika Kapela and extends to the cities Jezerane and Križpolje. South of this section begins the Mala Kapela, which extends to Korenica and therefore almost reached the border with Bosnia - Herzegovina Bihać. Politically the Mountains ( provinces ) Primorje- Gorski is one of the three Croatian counties Kotar, Karlovac and Lika -Senj.
The Kapela mountain range is a classic karst area. Made of limestone and dolomite formations you will find extensive forests ( "green karst " ), mainly with beech and fir stands. Particularly well known is the Plitvice Lakes National Park with its unique, largely untouched lakes landscape surrounded by virgin forests and karst formations, which was incorporated in 1979 as one of the first natural sites worldwide in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Since the karst soil is not suitable as the basis of agricultural cultivation, the area is relatively sparsely populated and traditionally served also due to the altitude as Grenzwald between the Croatian coast ( the historical regions of Istria and Dalmatia ), from the 16th century to 1815, most of the Republic Venice was controlled ( from then until 1918 by Austria-Hungary ), and the catchment area of the Sava and its tributaries Dobra, Mrežnica and Korana, which have their sources in the Kapela Mountain and drain to the east; this area Central Croatia was for centuries part of Austria -Hungary.
The highest peak is the Velika Kapela mountain range in Bjelolasica near the village Mrkopalj 1533 m above sea level. NN. The Mala Kapela is being crossed by one of the longest road tunnel in Europe; it has a length of 5,780 meters and was opened on 15 June 2005.
The current name " Kapela " stems from the fact that once in Modruš on the 623 meter high mountain Gvozd was an important monastery of the Order of Hermits Pauline. This monastery donated by the then Prince of Krk (later, since about 1430, when Frankopans known). It was named in 1390 by Ivan V. Krcki, ANZ, / John V of Krk / ( * before 1343, † 1393 ), founded in gathering his wife Anna and his son Nikola IV ( Mikula ). The monastery was generous possessions, not only on land but also on the island of Krk. Once lived in this monastery up to 80 monks, all Croats ( Glagolitic ). Due to the Ottoman conquest in 1493 and 1531, the monastery was completely destroyed. After the reconstruction of the chapel of St. Nicholas in 1738, the entire mountain range Gvozd was renamed " Kapela " ( engl. chapel ).