Hortobágy

Hortobágy National Park - the Puszta*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Hungary
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iv, v
Reference	474
Region**	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1999  (23rd Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

The Nine-holed Bridge

Hortobágy (Hungarian pronunciation: [ɦortobaːɟ]) is both the name of a village in Hajdú-Bihar county and an 800 km² national park in Eastern Hungary, rich with folklore and cultural history. The park, a part of the Alföld (Great Plain), was designated as a national park in 1973 (the first in Hungary), and elected among the World Heritage sites in 1999. The Hortobágy is Hungary's largest protected area, and the largest natural grassland in Europe^[1].

Hortobágy is similar to a steppe, a grassy plain with cattle, sheep, oxen, and horses, tended by herdsmen, and it provides habitat for various different species (342 bird species have been documented, including the Common Crane, Dotterel, Stone Curlew and Great Bustard). Its emblematic sight is the Nine-holed Bridge, and this is the place for traditional sweep wells. Visitors might find mirage as well here.

Up to now it was believed that this alkaline steppe was formed by cutting huge forests in the Middle Ages and then the river control of the Tisza finished this process with changing the soil's structure and pH. However, Hortobágy is much older, alkalinization started ten thousand years ago, when the Tisza found its way through the Great Hungarian Plain and cut off the little rivers from their sources in the Northern Mountains. The real formation was finished by grazing animals, mammoths and wild horses in the Ice Age, and domesticated animals later.^{[citation needed]}

Besides this, Hortobágy had a negative connotations. Hortobágy was a place where Hungarian Stalinists sent their political opponents to work as forced labour, especially after the Resolution of Informbiro (the same way as prison on Goli otok functioned in Tito's Yugoslavia and Baragan in Romania)^[2][3][4](see Tito–Stalin split).

References

• Gorman, Gerard (1996): The Birds of Hungary. Helm (A&C Black) London, UK. ISBN 0-7136-4235-1.

External links

• Hungary for Visitors description
• Magyarország.hu description
• National Park Hortobágy - The Puszta description

v • d • e World Heritage Sites in Hungary Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue · Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst (with Slovakia) · Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs (Sopianae) · Fertő / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape (with Austria) · Old Village of Hollókő and its Surroundings · Hortobágy National Park – the Puszta · Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment · Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape

v • d • e Geographical regions of Hungary Alpokalja Kőszeg Mountains · Sopron Mountains · Vas Hills · Balfi Hills Little Hungarian Plain Hanság · Fertőzug · Neusiedl Basin · Rábaköz · Szigetköz · Marcali Basin · Moson Plain · Komárom-Esztergom Plain Transdanubia Zala Hills · Inner Somogy · Outer Somogy · Zselic · Völgység · Szekszárd Hills · Baranya Hills · Villány Mountains Transdanubian Medium Mountains Keszthely Mountains · Tapolca Basin · Balaton Uplands · Bakony · Bakonyalja · Sokoró · Vértesalja · Velence Mountains · Gerecse Mountains · Buda Mountains · Pilis Mountains · Visegrád Mountains Mecsek Western Mecsek · Eastern Mecsek Northern Medium Mountains Börzsöny · Cserhát · Mátra · Mátralába · Bükk · Aggtelek Karst · Zemplén Mountains Great Hungarian Plain Mezőföld · Sárrét · Sárköz · Drávamellék · Kiskunság · Jászság · Pest Plain · Heves Plain · Borsodi-Mezőség · Bodrogköz · Tiszahát · Szatmár Plain · Maros-Körös köze · Körös-vidék · Nagykunság · Hortobágy · Hajdúság · Nyírség

Coordinates: 47°36′N 21°06′E / 47.6°N 21.1°E / 47.6; 21.1