Medvednica

Coordinates: 45°55′N 15°58′E / 45.917°N 15.967°E / 45.917; 15.967
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Medvednica
View of Medvednica from Jarun Lake
Highest point
PeakSljeme
Elevation1,035 m (3,396 ft)
Geography
Medvednica is located in Croatia
Medvednica
Medvednica
CountryCroatia
Range coordinates45°55′N 15°58′E / 45.917°N 15.967°E / 45.917; 15.967

Medvednica (pronounced [mědʋednitsa], lit. "Bear Mountain")[1] is a mountain in central Croatia, just north of Zagreb, and marking the southern border of the historic region of Zagorje. The highest peak, at 1,035 m (3,396 ft) is Sljeme.[2] Most of the area of Medvednica is a nature park (park prirode), a type of preservation lesser than a national park.[3] During Miocene and Pliocene, the mountain was an island within the Pannonian Sea.

Etymology

The name Medvednica could be translated as "bear mountain". There are several other toponyms on the mountain using the

Kajkavian dialect term medved 'bear' (compare Standard Croatian: medvjed), most notably Medvedgrad
, a medieval castle on its southwestern edges.

Sljeme (

metonymically
to refer to the entire mountain.

Climate

Forest, Park Medvednica, Croatia

The

artificial snow
when necessary. Much more sunshine occurs during the winter on Medvednica than in Zagreb or Zagorje, so it is not surprising that winter is the most visited season on the Medvednica mountain.

Medvednica, in comparison to the surrounding lowland area, behaves as an "island" in its climate characteristics, with more precipitation, lower temperatures, and higher duration and quantity of snow cover. The Medvednica area is located in a temperate zone where air temperature decreases for 0.5 °C for every 100 m of elevation. Based on the annual rate of precipitation, Medvednica is characterised as having a continental precipitation regimen with maximum precipitation during the warm part of the year (April to September).

Temperature

During summer and winter,

temperature inversion is sometimes present. An anticyclone forms above the cold continent during winter. When its center is close to Croatia, the weather is cold and gloomy in Zagreb and warmer at Sljeme.[4][5] The mean annual air temperature on Medvednica is 6.2 °C (43.2 °F), compared with 11.4 °C (52.5 °F) in Zagreb. The mean temperature in summer months is on average lower by 6 °C (11 °F) than in Zagreb.[4]

On average, 15 days have temperatures below −10 °C (14 °F), eight days a year have average daily maxima higher than 25 °C (77 °F), and only one day reaches above 30 °C (86 °F). The coldest month is January with a mean monthly air temperature of −3.1 °C (26.4 °F), while the warmest month is July with an average temperature of 15.2 °C (59.4 °F).

Insolation exceeds Zagreb's by about 100 hours annually. This difference manifests itself during the colder period of the year, from October to March, when more fog occurs in Zagreb.[4]

Precipitation

The

relative air humidity
is largest during the cold part of the year, and generally is larger on stations with higher altitude because of lower temperatures, but luxuriant vegetation. The number of days with relative humidity above 80% is greatest on Puntijarka (158 days annually), and it decreases with the decrease in elevation; for example, at the Zagreb–Grič station it is 67 days annually. On all stations, the warm part of the year (from April to September) has the most thunderstorm days; these are often connected to showers. June has the most thunderstorm days (Puntijarka 7).

The annual precipitation on Medvednica is about 50% higher in comparison to Zagreb (Zagreb: 844 mm (33.2 in), Sljeme: 1,238 mm (48.7 in), Kraljičin zdenac: 1,159 mm (45.6 in), Fakultetsko dobro: 1,142 mm (45.0 in)). Average number of days with

hoar
is 40 (4 in Zagreb). The mean annual number of days with snowfall on the top of Medvednica, most usually in January and February, is 54 days.

The number of days with strong wind is 91 (26 in Zagreb) and they are more frequent during the cold part of the year. The number of days with storm-force wind is 21 (2 in Zagreb), also mostly during the cold part of the year. In 1980, the forests of Medvednica, especially beech trees, were heavily stricken by a catastrophic ice break. Later, in February 1983, large devastations occurred as a result of strong wind (large damage on fir). Effects of such a strong wind can be seen in the area of Adolfovac as of early 2010s.[6]

Sljeme cable car

Skiing

A winter sports center is based on the northern slopes towards Sljeme. The center has hosted several

World Cup slalom skiing races, known as the Snow Queen Trophy
.

The winter sports center consists of one

artificial snow
has been added, and because of that, the skiing season has been prolonged to more than four months.

Three ways exist to reach the mountain: by road (with a car or a bus) or on foot (numerous mountain paths). In the past, an older gondola lift was present, which started from the Gračani neighborhood just below Medvednica. The cable car had run from 1963 to 2007, when a major fault in the engine room made repairs economically impossible.[7] The gondola had a capacity for four people, with a 23-minute journey time, covering a distance of 4023 m. The new gondola lift was opened on 23 February 2022, has a capacity of 10 people and WiFi.[8]

On Medvednica are dozen of

Veternica cave
with a 2,622-m-long main channel.

Views of Medvednica

  • View of Zagreb from Sljeme
    View of Zagreb from Sljeme
  • Ski clubs' houses and restaurants near the summit
    Ski clubs' houses and restaurants near the summit
  • Sljeme with the TV tower seen from Medvedgrad castle
    Sljeme with the TV tower seen from Medvedgrad castle

References

  1. ^ "Mèdvednica" (in Croatian). Novi Liber. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  2. ISSN 1333-3305
    . Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  3. ^ Nature Park Medvednica
  4. ^ a b c "Nature - Climate". Medvednica Nature Park. Archived from the original on 7 January 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  5. HINA. "Snježna kraljica otkazana!" [Snow Queen cancelled!]. Index.hr
    (in Croatian). Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  6. ^ Regional plan for area with special characteristic in Nature Park Medvednica – Starting points and goals of regional planning. Concept, Zagreb, July 2003
  7. ^ "Nova žičara sa 125 kabina gradit će se tek za tri godine". Večernji list (in Croatian). 16 April 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  8. ^ "ZET cable car". zet.hr. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  9. ^ Medvednica.info

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Medvednica.
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