Little Carpathians

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Little Carpathians in Slovakia within the geomorphological division of Slovakia

Little Carpathians around the Červený Kameň Castle

The Little Carpathians (Slovak: Malé Karpaty; German: Kleinen Karpaten; other translations to English are Lesser Carpathians or - wrongly - Small Carpathians) are a low, about 100 km long, mountain range, part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountains are situated in Western Slovakia, covering the area from Bratislava to Nové Mesto nad Váhom, and a very small part called Hundsheimer Berge (or Hainburger Berge) is situated in northeastern Austria. They are bordered by Záhorie Lowland in the west and Danubian Lowland in the east.

In 1976, the Little Carpathians were declared a protected area under the name Little Carpathians Protected Landscape Area, covering 646.1 km². The three highest mountains are are Záruby at 768 m (2,519.7 ft), Vysoká at 754 m (2,473.8 ft) and Vápenná at 752 m (2,467.2 ft).

Division of the Little Carpathians (from south to north):

Devín Carpathians (in Bratislava)
Pezinok Carpathians (from Bratislava to Buková)
Brezová Carpathians (from Buková to Prašník)
Čachtice Carpathians (from Prašník to Nové Mesto nad Váhom)

The Little Carpathians are used for hiking, cycling, skiing and other winter sports.

The southeastern part contains extensive vineyards (e.g. Bratislava, Rača, Pezinok, Modra). Several castles or castle ruins are situated in the Little Carpathians, for example Devín Castle, Čachtice Castle, Červený Kameň Castle, and Smolenice Castle. Driny, a limestone cave, is the only cave open to public.