The Great Osturnian Lake is an area of European importance. It is located north-west of the village of Osturňa, on the southern slope of the insignificant border ridge of Spišská Magura in the Pieniny National Park. The current water surface area is relatively small, although it was once much larger, as evidenced by the marshy surroundings.
The lake is supplied by surface inflow and groundwater and is not subject to fluctuations during the year. A stream flows out of the lake, which is a tributary of the Osturnianský Brook.
The plant communities alternate depending on the water table level and represent rare taxa of aquatic biotopes and transitional peatlands. Among the more important species, there is the three-leaved menyanthes (Menyanthes trifoliata), the carnivorous round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), the marsh sedge (Pedicularis palustris), the sedge (Carex diandra) and others.
The endemic species of the mountain newt (Triturus alpestris) and the Carpathian newt (Triturus montandoni) are represented among the animal species.
The main objective of protection územia Veľkého Osturnianskeho jazera is to maintain the favourable condition of rare biotopes and speciesthat occur here.
Osturnia je rázovitá zamagurská obec situovaná v doline Osturnianskeho potoka v Spišskej Magure.
It was founded in 1313. In 1979 it was declared a Monument Reserve of Folk Architecture. Several original Highlander buildings have been preserved here. Osturňa is considered to be the longest stream village in Slovakia (9.5 km). The village is there are 157 listed buildings.
The village is a living open-air museum of Slovakia and a jewel of Zamagurium.
Dominant sacral monuments are :
Greek Catholic Church of St. Michael the Archangel (1796)
Wooden Chapel of the Holy Cross (1898)
Brick chapel of the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God
Chránené územie bolo vyhlásené v roku 1984 (novelizované v roku 1993). Predstavuje jeden z mála príkladov zahradených jazier v dôsledku plazivých deformácií svahov vo flyšových horninách Západných Karpát.
Zdroj: www.geocaching.com, www.obec-osturna.sk
Titulná foto: Wikipédia – autor: Jerzy Opioła – Vlastné dielo, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://lnk.sk/uAIP
