Mário Petlák 9.CCARE FOR THE ENVIROMENT AT SCHOOL

A COMENIUS PROJECT

ORAVARiver Orava in the Orava region belongs to the cleanest rivers in Slovakia, but after many flooding it was necessary to built the Orava reservoir that is located in the northern part of the country. It has been built between 1941 and 1953 and with its area of 35,2 km2 it is the biggest lake in Slovakia.

Orava dam is an important touristic center offering great services for holiday lovers. Tourists are mostly visiting the southern part of the reservoir as the two best equipped resorts in the area are located there: Slanická osada and Goral hotel.

Visitors can choose from many types of restaurants, hostels, hotels, car-camping sites,

sport facilities, sport equipment rentals.

Sightseeing tour by boat is definitely an

unforgettable experience; it is possible

to start the sightseeing four times a day.

There is a huge amount of other opportunities especiallyduring the summer season starting in the middle of Juneand ending in the end of September.

DOMAŠADomaša, also called Green Perl of eastern Slovakia, is a reservoir located close to

town Vranov nad Topľov surrounded by Low Beskids mountain and it lies on river Orava. Its construction started in 1962 and was completed in 1967. Building required flooding of more small villages – Dobrá nad Ondavou, Trepec, Kelča and Petejovce. It covers an area of 1510 hectares and at some places it is deep up to 32,5 meters.

Resort offers wide range of recreation possibilities. Great conditions for fishing attract many visitors – there are 23 fish species living in its clean water. Five recreation villages – Dobrá, Poľany, Holčíkovce, Nová Kelča and Vaľkov –offer accommodation opportunities as hotels,boarding houses or camping facilities. Locals offerwater sport services, sport equipment rentals,playgrounds, restaurants, kiosks and more. Quite hot water (23 °C) creates good conditionsfor windsurfing as well.

ZEMPLÍNSKA ŠÍRAVAZemplínska šírava is situated in the northern part of lowland Východoslovenská

nížina in eastern Slovakia near to the town Michalovce. It was built in 1961 – 1965; its surface is between 22 and 35 km2 and its average depth reaches only maximum of 9,5 meters. Water from this dam flows into the river Laborec which later flows into Bodrogriver.

Most of the facilities for recreation are located in the northern part of the reservoir. The most popular tourist centers are Kaluža, Paľkov,Kamenec and Hôrka. Services in these areas are on a very high level, offering also rentals of boats, scooters, water bicycles, water skis and windsurfing. Sightseeing tours by boat start from the local port. For the ones loving mountain hiking, there are many opportunitiesin Vyhorlatské vrchy. Eastern part ofthe reservoir is a protected area of Ornithological Reserve where youcan find more than 100 species of waterfowl; some of them are highlyprotected because of their rareness.

LIPTOVSKÁ MARAAnother reservoir called Liptovská Mara is situated on the river Váh in the

northern part of Slovakia near Liptovský Mikuláš. The water area of 22 km2 was built in 1965 – 1975. Maximum depth of the dam is 45 meters. Building the reservoir was very important especially as a prevention against floods, but also to generate electricity for the Liptov region. One of the biggest exhibitions of the area is the Museum of LiptovVillage. Construction of the dam required inundating several local communes, cultural monuments and historical monuments. Remains of these monuments are the main attractions of the museum.

The most visited resort around the dam is avillage Liptovský Trnovec. It became a favoritedestination not only because of water sportsopportunities but also thanks to large car campingplace. Another interesting ways how to spend the time here are yachting, wind-surfing or hiking in surroundings maintains – Chočské vrchy(Chočské Mountains) and Západné Tatry(West Tatras). Main summer season beginsin the middle of June and ends in the end of September.

SLNAVAWater reservoir Sĺňava is a part of word famous spa called Piešťany, located in the

northern part of Danubian Lowland. Building the dam started in 1956 and was finished in 1959. Its length is 6,4 km; it is 2 km wide and has an area of 470 hectares.

Two car camping sites – Sĺňava and Lodenicaoffer a wide range of services, such as sport equipment rentals, water ski, windsurfing, cyclist runs and many others. Great attractions are permanently organized sport events, such as rowing, kayak or canoe races. Artificial island which is a part of the reservoir was created for some rare species of birds.

LAKESThese are the most famous natural lakes in Slovakia

SUNNY LAKESSunny Lakes (Slnečné jazerá) are situated in town Senec 25 km south-west from

Bratislava. It was built in 1845 by excavating gravel that was mined by Hungarian Building Railway Administration (Slovakia was part of the Hungarian Monarchy that time) in order to build a railway from Bratislava to Galanta. They created 5 independent water entities, later they joined one huge reservoir with the area of 116 hectares and depth of 12 meters.

One of the most famous resorts in Slovakia belongs to the best ones not only because it offers all types of accommodation, but also many sport facilities. Visitors can choose from many water sports options – boat rentals, water bicycles, water slides and more. People who don’t like water that much can play golf, tennis, squash, bowling, mini golf or table tennis.

GOLDEN SANDSGolden Sands (Zlaté piesky) is a summer resort in north-eastern Bratislava. The

lake is located in the town district Ružinov. Length of the surrounding beach is about 400 meters and the lake is 30 meters wide.

The largest recreation centre in Bratislavaoffers many possibilities for relaxing. For those loving sport there is an opportunity to play tennis, volleyball, street-ball, mini-golf and swimming, of course. There is a shopping center, many restaurants and accommodation possibilities within walking distance.

DUCHONKARelax and recreation resort Duchonka is situated 15 km from Topoľčany in the

Považský Inovec mountain. The biggest boom of tourism in Duchonka was in 70s and 80s of the 20th century, but this unique resort is still welcoming thousands of visitors each year.

Surrounding nature offers great hiking and cycling opportunities. Another interesting ways how to spend your time are water skiing, playing tennis, volley-ball, mini-golf or table-tennis. During winter time there are also good conditions for skiing and snowboarding only a few kilometers from the lake. Rich nightlife and cultural performances are a part of summer season. Orange Music Summer Duchonka belongs each year to the most visited music festivals in Slovakia.

RIVERS

DANUBEDanube (Dunaj) – the second largest river of Europe – is flowing through the

Southern Slovakia and draining into the Black Sea in Romania. The lenght of “Slovak Danube” is 172 km, the lenght of the whole Danube is 2850 km.

Here is the list of 25 longest rivers in Slovakia (according to how long the rivers are on the territory of Slovakia!):

Váh – 403 km Hron – 298 km Ipeľ – 232,5 km Nitra – 196,7 km Hornád – 193 km Danube (Slovak part) – 172 km Ondava – 146,5 km Laborec – 135,5 km Topľa – 129,8 km Torysa – 129 km Small Danube (Malý Dunaj) – 128 km Moravia (Morava) – 114 km Salty (Slaná) – 110 km Poprad – 107 km Black Water (Čierna voda) – 105,5 km

Sources:http://www.visitslovakia.com/data/USR_044_SV_HR_PP/pleso8_d.jpghttp://www.visitslovakia.com/data/USR_044_ORAVA/Orava_5x.jpghttp://www.alcea.sk/img/ondava/1.jpghttp://www.travel4u.sk/images/oblast/sirava1.jpghttp://img.flog.pravda.sk/2009/07/22/tsW_243336_m.jpg