Wonders of Nature in Serbia

Đavolja Varoš (Devil town)

 

Located in southern Serbia, Djavolja Varos is an interesting natural formation of rock towers that seem to take the shape of a city of sorts. The mystery of these formations, being almost sculpture-like, caused locals to give it its eerie name, which translates as Devil’s Town.
These naturally formed towers, 202 of them in total caused by centuries of erosion, are similar to those found in Cappadoccia, Turkey, and are a certain rarity on the European continent.
The area is also home to a popular natural spring spa, one of which has healing acidic waters.

Vratna Gates

The River Vratna, a tributary of the Danube, is in the northeast of Serbia. Due to the unique interplay of geological features in its basin, a composite valley has arisen, with gorges and canyons carved out of the carbonate rock.
There are three large ‘gates’ (prerast) – natural stone bridges – over the Vratna, each of which has come about through a different process. They are a unique phenomenon, a specific phase in the evolution of tunnel caves and river meanders.
Suva Prerast came about where the Vratna disappears underground before a limestone ridge in a gooseneck meander. It is an imposing stone bridge 20 m high, 15 m wide and with a 34 m-wide arch.
Three kilometres downriver from the Suva Prerast is the Velika Prerast, a remnant of a former cave roof. It has a tunnel-shaped opening 45 m long, 26 m high and 22-33 m wide. There are a number of cave openings in the walls and roof of the bridge.
The Mala Prerast is just 100 m downriver from the Velika Prerast, at the very end of the canyon portion of the valley. From then on begins the wide expanse of the Vratna valley with its monastery complex. At the narrowest point of the exit, some 200 m upriver from the Vratna monastery, the slim arch of a natural stone bridge rises into the air, 34 m high, 33 m wide and 15 m thick.
The entire valley, which has resulted from the collapse of a cave roof through which the Vratna once flowed underground, and especially the attractive bridges – natural stone arches over the river – are exceptional examples of the action of river and karst processes in isolated limestone landscapes.

Sopotnica waterfalls

        
                    

The Sopotnice waterfalls are in southwestern Serbia, on the river Sopotnica, on the western slopes of the mountain of Jadovnik. They are located in the municipality of Prijepolje in the area of the village of Sopotnica. The river Sopotnica, a tributary of the Lim, is characterised by the large difference in elevation between its mouth at 465 m above sea-level and its highest source at 1150 m.
This monument of nature encompasses the source of the surface course of the river Sopotnica, with a number of permanent and intermittent karst emergences and springs which form rivulets. These rivulets first combine and then branch out to form a series of waterfalls. Another major attraction besides the rivulets and waterfall are the old, restored water mills.
The sinter deposits came about from spring sediments around the upper portions of the Sopotnica’s course and extend from the highest wells under the limestone slope of the Podstijenja at 1120 m above sea-level, to the last waterfall at 850 m above sea-level. With a 270 m difference in elevation, this sinter has the greatest elevation range of any in Serbia. The accumulated deposits of sinter – formed into seven levels of flattened fan-like cascades of varying size and prominence – the falling water and the numerous falls flowing over the edges of the sinter terraces, all contribute to the value of this natural monument. Especially attractive is the Veliki vodopad (‘Great Waterfall’).
The plant life of Sopotnica comprises 62 varieties, of which 10 are shelf fungi and 52 types of moss – a high degree of diversity for such a small area.
The ethnic and cultural setting of this area, with its numerous unique features of mixed ethnicity, traditional village hospitality and various valuable examples of vernacular architecture, are also part of what makes the Sopotnica valley so important.

Mlava and Krupaj springs

 

The foothills of the mountain of Beljanica in eastern Serbia abound in powerful karst emergences. Two such wells are of particular interest due to their power, appearance and the way they emerge: the Mlava Spring, in the village of Žagubica itself, located where the northern slopes of Beljanica descend into the Homolje basin, and the Krupaj Spring (Krupajsko vrelo), at the western foot of the mountain, in the Krupaj river valley some 35 km from Žagubica.
The Mlava Spring is set in a natural amphitheatre which opens towards the northwest via the short valley of the outflow of the emergence. The well is in the shape of a pond some thirty metres across, its water deep green in colour. When at its height, its flow can reach 15 cubic metres per second, when it becomes whitish or reddish and clouded. The water in the pond ascends from a great depth. To date, divers have succeeded in descending the underwater funnel to a depth of more than 70 m without having reached the bottom of the siphon. Once the main water source for Žagubica, and a traditional gathering place for festivals and rituals, the Mlava Spring today is an attractive tourist spot, with tended banks and wooded slopes.
The Krupaj Spring once emerged from a cave with great force, accompanied by a roaring sound, but today is walled over with a concrete water gate, for use by the wool-carding and flour mill that is still in operation today. As a result, the cave mouth has been partially submerged by the pond which has formed. Near to the emergence there is a powerful thermal spring, with a water temperature of 26.5⁰C.
Both water sources are protected as natural monuments of national importance, and include the immediate area, including 6 hectares around the Mlava Spring and 9 hectares around the Krupaj Spring.

Lazarev kanjon (Lazarev canyon)

Lazarev Kanjon (‘Lazar’s Canyon’) is in eastern Serbia and is part of eastern Kučaj. Lazarev Kanjon is important for its relief, its water-formed features and its natural life. It was formed by the erosive action of the Lazareva Reka river, a right tributary of the Zlotska Reka river. This magnificent canyon is carved into the limestone of the Dubašnička Ravan, and is joined by the more shallow, smaller canyons of the Milujska Reka and Pojenska Reka rivers, as well as by the Demizloka canyon.
Lazarev Kanjon is one of the least negotiable canyons in Serbia. It is 4.5 km long, 350 to 500 m deep, and at its narrowest is 4 m wide. It is notable for its vertical limestone cliffs with a flattened limestone plateau from which the carving of the valley began. It is also unique for its variety of surface and underground karst relief forms such as karst valleys, sinkholes, karren, kamenica, caves and caverns. More than 70 caves and potholes have been discovered in the area of Lazarev Kanjon, the most significant being Lazareva Pećina and Vernjikica. The area is also of interest for its variety of forms of surface and subterranean waters.
The flora of this region is some 50% more diverse than the flora of the national parks of Kopaonik, Šara and Djerdap, and as much as 5 times more diverse than the flora of Serbia as a whole, which is an indication of its significance as a centre of floral diversity in the Balkans. The plant life is characterised by numerous and varied endemic and subendemic plants, as well as by the presence of 52 relict plant species dating back to various geological eras.
Lazarev Kanjon is a region populated by Italian and Turkish oak, together with oriental hornbeam, though a total of 16 tree and 10 plant communities have been recorded. The territory of the Lazareva Pećina cave is home to 57 tall and short tree species and 27 shrub species. This is a major centre of European deciduous tree species and a rare refuge of the Stankewicz pine. Also very important are the Austrian black pine woods on the canyon cliff-edges and the beech and pine woodlands.
The canyon is home to 35 species of mammal (bats, chamois and others), 96 bird species (Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Eagle Owl, Tawny Owl, Wallcreeper, Yellow-billed Chough, Common Kingfisher, Syrian Woodpecker, Red-rumped Swallow and others), 9 reptile species, 8 amphibian species and numerous, as yet insufficiently studied species of insect and cave fauna.