Velebit

Regions

Velebit is usually divided into three regions:

• the northern part between the mountain passes Vratnik and Veliki Alan, with the highest peaks including:
  • Mali Rajinac (1699 m)
  • Veliki Zavižan (1676 m)
  • Veliki (Zavižanski) Pivčevac (1676 m)
  • Gromovača (1676 m)
• the middle part between Veliki Alan and Baške Oštarije with the highest peaks including:
  • Šatorina (1622 m)
  • Zečjak (1622 m)
  • Laktin vrh (1504 m)
• the southern part between Oštarije and Mali Alan, with the highest peaks including:
  • Vaganski vrh (1758 m)
  • Sveto brdo (1751 m)
  • Visočica (1615 m)
  • Crnopac (1402 m) in the far southeastern part

Velebit as a whole is a nature park, from which two national parks have been carved out: Paklenica and Sjeverni Velebit (Northern Velebit)

A further category of even more careful nature preservation exists within Sjeverni Velebit, the special reservation Hajdučki i Rožanski Kukovi, under the highest nature protection available in Croatia. Officially no human activity is allowed there (except research). These are the mostly still unexplored and wild places and probably will stay that way in the future.

A pathway called Premužićeva staza (Premužić's pathway) leads through the northern and middle parts of Velebit. This pathway was built between 1930 and 1933 and it connects northern and southern Velebit. Its length is 57 km. Many parts of Velebit would not be reachable without it. The Velebit mountains are transversed by the A1 through the Sveti Rok Tunnel.

Peaks and areas of Velebit

• Zavižan area – North Velebit (Mali Rajinac) (1699 m)
• Rožanski Kukovi group – North Velebit (Gromovaca (1676 m) and Vratarski Kuk (1676 m)
• Alančić, Rožanski Vrh, Seravski Vrh, North Velebit (Goli Vrh (1670 m)
• Veliki Kozjak (1629 m), North Velebit
• Šatorina (1624 m) – Mid Velebit
• Stap area – South Velebit, (Debeli Kuk) (1269 m)
• Visočica (1619 m) – South Velebit
• Bojin Kuk (1110 m) – South Velebit
• Viserujna (1632 m) and Rujno – South Velebit
• Paklenica area – South Velebit
• Vaganski vrh (1758 m) – South Velebit (highest peak of Velebit)
• Liburnija (1710 m) – South Velebit
• Sveto Brdo (1751 m) – South Velebit
• Tulove Grede (1120 m) – Southeast Velebit
• Crnopac (1404 m) – Southeast Velebit

Some 45 peaks exceed 1600 m.

Plješivica or Velebitska Plješivica is a peak in the north of Velebit (1654 m) that hosts a communications tower and a former military facility. There is also a smaller peak of Pljišivica in the north of Velebit (1560 m).

In the categorization of 113 of the highest points of Croatia by professor Vladimir Volenec, first published in 1990 and revised in 2015, there are 76 peaks from the Velebit.

The caves

Main article: Velebit caves

There are hundreds of "holes" on Velebit. It has the largest and deepest caves in Croatia. The three-part "Lukina jama" cave is 1392 m deep, making it one of the deepest caves in the world, and the deepest in southeast Europe, while the "Slovačka jama" is 1320 m. What makes it unique is that it is completely vertical, steepest in the world. At the bottom of the pothole is a water course or siphon with branches that are still unexplored. A kind of leech was discovered in the pothole, which has been ascertained to represent a new species, genus and family; it has been named Erpobdella mestrovi.

List of sinkholes on Velebit deeper than 500 m:

1. Lukina Jama, 1431 m, Hajdučki Kukovi – North Velebit
2. Jama Nedam, 1335 m, Hajdučki Kukovi – North Velebit
3. Slovačka Jama, 1324 m, Rožanski Kukovi – North Velebit
4. Velebita, 1026 m, Rožanski Kukovi – North Velebit
5. sustav Crnopac, 842 m, Crnopac – North Velebit
6. Meduza, 706 m, Rožanski Kukovi – North Velebit
7. Munižaba, 652 m, Crnopac – North Velebit
8. Patkov Gušt, 553 m, Hajdučki Kukovi – North Velebit
9. Ledena Jama, 536 m, Lomska Duliba – North Velebit
10. Ponor na Bunovcu, 534 m, Bunovac – South Velebit
11. Jama Olimp, 531 m, Hajdučki Kukovi – North Velebit
12. Lubuška Jama, 521 m, Hajdučki Kukovi – North Velebit

Ecology

Velebit is a biodiverse region of Croatia and home to several endemic species of plants, including Degenia velebitica, a protected species of plant in the mustard family which grows on scree slopes. It was discovered in 1907 by the Hungarian botanist Árpád von Degen. Other endemic plant species include Arenaria orbicularis, Crocus malyi, Euphorbia triflora, Hieracium velebiticum, Hieracium obrovacense, Knautia pectinata, and Knautia velebitica.

Climate

Between 1962 and 2010, the highest temperature recorded at the Baške Oštarije weather station was 33.0 C, on 22 August 2000. The lowest temperature was -23.0 C, on 3 March 2005.

Since records began in 1954, the highest temperature recorded at the Zavižan weather station at an elevation of 1594 m was 28.3 C, on 22 July 2015. The coldest temperature was -28.6 C, on 10 February 1956.

|Jan record high C = 12.5 |Feb record high C = 13.8 |Mar record high C = 16.5 |Apr record high C = 19.4 |May record high C = 23.1 |Jun record high C = 26.4 |Jul record high C = 28.3 |Aug record high C = 28.2 |Sep record high C = 27.2 |Oct record high C = 20.6 |Nov record high C = 19.2 |Dec record high C = 14.6 |year record high C = 28.2 |Jan record low C = −24.5 |Feb record low C = −28.6 |Mar record low C = -22.6 |Apr record low C = −14.5 |May record low C = −9.8 |Jun record low C = -3.1 |Jul record low C = 0.2 |Aug record low C = -2.0 |Sep record low C = -4.0 |Oct record low C = −11.5 |Nov record low C = −16.8 |Dec record low C = −24.2 |year record low C = −28.6 | access-date = 3 December 2015 | access-date = January 29, 2023

Mountain huts

In the 1935–1936 season, the Gojtanov dom mountain hut (open 1 May through 31 October), at 1460 m in elevation on Visočica, saw 232 visitors, including 3 Russian citizens. The mountain hut on Crnopac, at 750 m, normally open from 1 May to 31 October was closed at the time, but open year-round the next season. In the 1936–1937 season, it saw 149 visitors. In the 1937–1938 season, Gojtanov dom saw no visitors; the hut on Crnopac and the new mountain shelter on Bunovac were open.

Velebit in literature

The imposing nature of the Velebit mountain has made it something of a national symbol in Croatian folklore. There is a patriotic folk song "Vila Velebita" that personifies a fairy in Velebit.

In the Republic of Venice, Velebit was known as Montagna della Morlacca ("Mountain of the Morlach"), named after the Morlachs, an originally Romance ethnic group that eventually got assimilated into the local Croatian population, a generally socio-cultural and professional segment of the Slavic-speaking population rather than a Romance-speaking ethnicity.

Planine, the first Croatian novel by Petar Zoranić, was inspired by the Velebit mountain.

Gallery

File:Senj (HR), Nördlicher Velebit, Kapelle „Kapelica sv. Antuna“ -- 2022 -- 0731.jpg|Saint Anthony’s Chapel File:240530 View to Tulove Grede (May 2024) (1 von 1).jpg|Tutlove grede File:Fields of Velebit.jpg|Velebit field File:Pogled sa Velikog Rujna na Bojinac.jpg|Veliko Rujno File:Veliko Rujno s Bojinca.jpg|Bojinac File:National Park Sjeverni Velebit in Croatia (18900256881).jpg |Starigrad underneath Velebit File:Lomska-Duliba Uvala NatPark-Velebit Dinarides Croatia.jpg|Lomska uvala File:Velebit u daljini.jpg|Velebit seen from Pag island File:Zavratnica, Croatia.jpg|Zavratnica File:PP09 Velebit - Lika, Šibenik-Knin 12.jpg|Sveti Rok Tunnel File:Uvala Veliki-Lubenovac Northern-Velebit Dinarides Croatia.jpg|Northern Velebit File:Senj (HR), Nördlicher Velebit, Kvarner Bucht vom Velika Kosa -- 2022 -- 0656.jpg|Kvarner Gulf seen from the summit of Velika Koss in northern Velebit in Croatia

References

References

1. https://worldribus.org/balkan-peninsula/
2. (2009). "Geographical and meteorological data". [[Croatian Bureau of Statistics]].
3. Naklada Naprijed, ''The Croatian Adriatic Tourist Guide'', pg. 140–141, Zagreb (1999), {{ISBN. 953-178-097-8
4. "Hrvatski vrhovi". [[Croatian Mountaineering Association]].
5. "Premužićeva staza". [[National Park Sjeverni Velebit]].
6. (27 August 2019). "190 Velebitska Plješivica".
7. "Najviši vrhovi". [[Croatian Mountaineering Association]].
8. (2006). "Biodiversity of Croatia". State Institute for Nature Protection Ministry of Culture, Republic of Croatia.
9. [https://checklistbuilder.science.kew.org/reportbuilder.do Endemic plants of NW Balkan Pen.], World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) checklist builder. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
10. DHMZ. (2022-07-19). "Najviše izmjerene temperature zraka u Hrvatskoj za razdoblje od kada postoje mjerenja".
11. DHMZ. (2022-01-21). "Najniže izmjerene temperature zraka u Hrvatskoj za razdoblje od kada postoje mjerenja".
12. DHMZ. (2022-07-19). "Najviše izmjerene temperature zraka u Hrvatskoj za razdoblje od kada postoje mjerenja".
13. DHMZ. (2022-01-21). "Najniže izmjerene temperature zraka u Hrvatskoj za razdoblje od kada postoje mjerenja".
14. Plaček, Josip. (1936). "Izvještaj tajnika".
15. Plaček, Josip. (1937). "Izvještaj tajnika".
16. Plaček, Josip. (1938). "Izvještaj tajnika".