National Valdai Park: description

The Russian land is rich in beautiful places and unique landscapes. Perhaps, life is not enough to see them all with my own eyes. The lake-forest complex of the Valdai Upland is preserved due to the fact that at the end of the 20th century the National Valdai Park was organized here.

History

What is so unique about this area? Here a lot of monuments of culture and history of the Novgorod region are concentrated. In ancient times in the park lived Slavic tribes. The number of archaeological sites preserved in this area is simply amazing - eighty-two objects! These are hillforts and mounds, hills and villages, as well as ancient sites dating back to the 7th-6th centuries BC.

Garden and park art is represented by nine monuments - old manors with parks. Also here you can see 22 unique monuments of wooden architecture of 17-19 centuries. The great architect of the seventeenth century Lviv created in this area the church of Catherine. Today there is the Valdai History Museum. Selvitsky island of the Valdai Lake since 1653 is the refuge of the Iveron Bogoroditsky Svyatoozersky monastery.

Remember Valdai national park and significant historical events. Not far from Jazhelbits is Ignacia cross. It was here that Batu turned his army, not reaching Novgorod.

Geographical position and description

The park is located on the territory of Demyan, Okulovsky and Valdai districts of the Novgorod region. The area it occupies is more than 1,500 square kilometers (more precisely, 1585).

The National Valdai Park has a huge biosphere and ecological significance. The lacustrine-forest landscapes of the main watershed of Europe, which were formed due to continental glaciation, are protected by it. The glacial hilly-morainic relief is represented here in all its glory. The terrain seems hilly, but all due to the fact that there are significant differences in altitude between different surface forms. The surrounding plain adds to the picture, which only enhances the effect.

The Valdai Upland is part of an extensive lacustrine-hilly region - Lake District. All these features were taken into account when designing such an object as the Valdai National Park. Its description will be incomplete, if not to note that it passes like a ribbon along the main axis of the hill, stretching for 100 km from its northern part to the southern one. At the same time, it includes large lake groups, capturing the north of Seliger, as well as nearly 200 small reservoirs. The most famous of them is Lake Valday, on the island of which is already mentioned the monastery, as well as Velia and Borovno (they can boast picturesque banks and vast stretches).

A special zone occupies almost a quarter of the area of the Valdai Park. It is here, on the Polomet River, that riverbed processes are being studied. Their results represent a significant contribution of Russian scientists to the development of the foundations of ecology and hydrological science.

Flora

The Valday National Park has a rich flora. Its territory can rightly be called the area of biodiversity conservation in Eastern Europe. Higher plants are represented here in 750 species. But most importantly, there are rare species here - and their 79! Among them, some orchids, as well as representatives of the flora, whose place of growth is glacial lakes, stand out. Eleven species of plants are listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.

One and a half thousand hectares were given for haymaking. The vegetation cover is represented by various forests: spruce, pine and birch. Northern oak forests with ash, hazel, grasses are also found in places. 86 percent of the total area is reserved for forests. It is noted that woody plants in them are represented by 57 species, of which cultural - 15, and wild - growing - 42.

Fauna

Valdai National Park (Russia) has become a habitat for 45 species of fish, 180 bird species and 50 species of mammals. Of the mentioned feathered 32 species - migratory, the rest nest right there. Many of them are small or rare:

- Bittern;

- large crustacean;

- a large curlew;

- the gray crane;

- gray heron.

In addition, the Red Book of Russia included a golden eagle, a snake-eater, an owl, a black stork and several others.

Speaking of terrestrial vertebrates, they are based on a bear, a badger, a marten, a fox, a lynx, a wild boar, an elk, a harebuckling, and also animals that spend part of their life in the water: otter, river beaver, water rat, mink. There are many different kinds of ducks here. The whole territory of the Valdai Park is inhabited by wolves. The reservoirs are rich in fish: crucian, rylid, pike, burbot, bream, pike perch, perch, roach, ruff, etc. In total, there are 40 species of water inhabitants, including rare ones: brook trout, brook lamprey, ordinary underburner and European grayling.

Climate

The locality in which the national Valdai park is located is characterized by a temperate climate. Such conditions have a positive effect on the diversity of plant and animal worlds.

The average temperature of the coldest month is -10 degrees Celsius, the warmest - +16. The average annual rate is +3 degrees Celsius. The snow covers the territory of the Valdai Park for 140 days, the height of its cover can reach 45 cm. The duration of the frost-free period is 128 days.

A rapid change in the weather is characterized by the national park "Valdai". In the Valdai (Russia), the most frequent are southern, western and south-western winds.

Tourism

Getting to the park is very easy from the major cities of Russia - St. Petersburg and Moscow. That's why he is on the list of the most visited. The National Valdai Park is a place for conducting tourist rallies, there are children's camps, etc.

Wonderful conditions are created for tourists. They are always waiting for the numerous guest houses. Each of the 80 parking lots for tourists can accommodate from four to a hundred people. For the convenience of guests - a minimal set of forest furniture, which includes tables and canopies. In addition, garbage cans, toilets and places for lighting fires are provided. At each such site, you can find an information stand, which shows the addresses for communication and rules of conduct in the park.