P A T H S
OVČAR-KABLAR OVČAR-KABLARGORGE, GORGE,
Grateful to
FROM FROMDAWN DAWNTILL TILLDUSK DUSK
the Creator
The twenty kilometers long gorge amazes with its unforgettable meanders of the Western Morava river, twelve Orthodox Christian shrines, two lakes, a spa, one of the most fascinating belvederes in Serbia. One is simply astonished by the beauty and touching grace. When all this is complemented with tourist attractions, creativity of both hosts and guests, there is plenty of reasons for you to set off there. To be convinced or just renew what you already know Text and Photo: Svetlana Dingarac
16
SRBIJA BROJ 64 2017.
SERBIA NO 64 2017
17
P A T H S
I
At the pilgrimage to the Gorge
t was four in the morning. In the silence of a cool summer night, you could hear the murmur of the river and distant barking of dogs. Goran, main ranger of the “Ovčar-Kablar Gorge” Protected Landscape and, as we were soon about to discover, an inexhaustible source of information and curiosities from this area, was already waiting for us in front of the humble “Dom” Guest House, located under the rocks in the heart of the Gorge. Still sleepy, we silently entered “Lada Niva” and started our climbing up the steep, winding mountain path. After a half an hour ride and a short walk, we finally reached our destination 889 meters high peak of Kablar, considered one of the most beautiful belvederes in Serbia. We were greeted by a dreamlike view. In the blue daybreak, numerous peaks of Dinara mountains were emerging from the sea of fog, woodland slopes speckled with glades and just a few lonely rural households. An eagle was crying in the
clear sky high above our heads, while some 700 meters below us, the echo of numerous monastery bells was inviting to the morning service and slowly waking up the still sleepy Ovčar Spa. In the east, gilded meanders of the Western Morava river were rushing to the Čačak basin and the day that was just being born. Before we reached for our cameras, each of us, consciously or not, thanked the Creator for this magical moment and unexpected grace. It was certainly the most impressive and most photogenic sight in the OvčarKablar Gorge for a small, chosen group of art photographers from different parts of Serbia, who participated at the third Photo Meeting in Ovčar Spa last summer, sponsored by the Tourist Organization of Čačak. Invited to eternalize the beauties of the Gorge, all for the promotion of this protected area, after Kablar, the photographers climbed to the peak of Ovčar, saw belvederes, monasteries and tufa cascades of the Banjski Potok, and, finally, ended their two-day visit by sailing the meanders of the Western Morava. Numerous pictures were made and the best of them will soon be presented to the audience in Čačak at the already traditional exhibition in the Cultural Home. Natural beauties, monuments of nature and spirituality of the Ovčar-Kablar Gorge, besides photographers, are often inspiration to painters, sculptors, icon painters, calligraphers… The Gorge is a place where many art colonies take place, meetings of poets and similar cultural events, gathering artists and people in love with this area. PROTECTED LANDSCAPE Considered by many the most beautiful and most romantic gorge in Central Serbia, this unique morphological whole cut between the mountain massifs of Ovčar and Kablar, is only 18 kilometers west from Čačak. Travelogue writers from the XIX century described this area as a “crack between rocks with a river wriggling through”. The main feature of this 20 kilometers-long gorge are the extraordinarily expressed curves of the Western Morava, named embedded or shut meanders by the famous Serbian geographer Jovan Cvijić. In the very heart of the Gorge is
18
SRBIJA BROJ 64 2017.
Ovčar Spa, one of the smallest and youngest spas in Serbia, famous for its salutary thermal springs. – Although it was officially recognized as a spa only in 2011, numerous archeological research showed that the thermal springs were used already in prehistoric times, and that ancient religious rituals took place around them – tells us ranger Goran, our guide. – The salutary features of these waters were also known in Roman times, while later, after Turkish conquests, Ovčar Spa became the most important monastery spa in the area of present Serbia. Thick mountain forests, the main floristic feature of the Gorge, are home to
numerous and various flora and fauna species. Numerous springs twist between thick trees, running down to two artificial lakes – Ovčar and Međuvršje. Forests and steep rocks of the Gorge, especially the lakes with shallows grown in cod and cane, are habitat to about 176 species of birds, mainly nesting populations of di-
Sretenje Monastery, on Ovčar, 16th century
At the Water Gates “When one watches from docile Čačak in the evening to the west, along the beautiful Morava, two hours from there the view closes by two high mountain tops. Both of them, the sharp Ovčar on the left and jagged Kablar on the right, in the pale evening light, stand like gigantic pillars at the water gates, from which the Morava, the biggest Serbian water, rushes.” (M. Ilić, 1875)
SERBIA NO 64 2017
19
P A T H S
20
SRBIJA BROJ 64 2017.
SERBIA NO 64 2017
21
P A T H S
In the Gorge: Clear sky and the murky Morava View from Ovčar of the meanders of the West Morava
22
urnal and nocturnal birds of prey, woodpeckers and songbirds. With such richness, the Ovčar-Kablar Gorge was enlisted as internationally Important Bird Area, IBA, covering 6.174 hectares. It thereby also became part of the Serbian ecological network and enlisted as part of the “Natura 2000” program. Due to all the aforementioned, seventeen years ago, the Ovčar-Kablar Gorge was proclaimed a first category protected natural good – protected landscape by the Serbian Government decree, and the Tourist Organization of Čačak appointed its manager. As stated in the Official Gazette, it is an area of extraordinary landscape diversity, attractiveness, important as an SRBIJA BROJ 64 2017.
example of geological, geomorphological processes and phenomena, as well as a significant cultural and historical whole, with numerous monasteries, memorial and sacral objects and landmarks. The protected area covers 2.250 hectares, the biggest part thereof (1.700 hectares) in the Čačak Municipality and a smaller part (550 hectares) in the Municipality of Lučani. SMALL MOUNT ATHOS Besides natural values, as we mentioned, the Gorge is also famous for many preserved monasteries and shrines, mostly from the XV and XVI century, which is why it is also called “Serbian Small Mount Athos”.
– The monasteries of the Presentation of Christ, Holy Trinity, Presentation of the Virgin, Ascension of Christ and Transfiguration of Christ are on the slopes of Ovčar, while monasteries of St. Nicholas, Annunciation, St. John, Dormition and Church of St. Elijah were raised on Kablar – explains our guide. – It is believed that they were founded by monks from the Monastery of Virgin of Gradac, who, fleeing before the Turkish invasion, found sanctuary in these inaccessible cliffs of Ovčar and Kablar and established their monastic communities. There are also two especially holy places in the Gorge: a church in the rock dedicated to St. Sava, known as Savinje, and the sanctuary-cave Kađenica.
Numerous pilgrims visit the Gorge today, while in the past, its spiritual richness attracted travelogue writers and explorers, including Vuk Karadžić, who visited it in 1820. He was followed by Joakim Vujić, writer, and Austrian explorer Felix Kanitz. In 1860, Kanitz wrote: “... Serbia also has its Montferrat and its Athos. Only, it’s not like Montferrat, which emerged from the soil like a high cone surrounded with hills, and not like Athos, which reigns the waves of the Strimonikos Bay like a mountain cathedral of Anatolian Christianity; in the deep gorge between Kablar and Ovčar, four monasteries lay on each side of the river, telling stories about past miracles, hidden from the eyes of passersby, so that strangers stumble upon them only on rare occasions.” Things today are a bit different than in Kanitz’s time. After the construction of the railroad in 1910 and later the ČačakUžice highway, the Gorge became accessible to many visitors. Ten marked hiking paths, over 90 kilometers long in total, also increased its accessibility, enabling alpinists and nature and hiking lovers to cruise the Gorge from all sides and peek into its most hidden corners. – Besides cultural, spa tourism and pilgrimages, which are certainly most popular, the Gorge has been a favorite destination for mountaineers and alpinists for decades. The biggest alpinist attraction is the recently opened Via ferata to the mystical Turčinovac Cave in the cliffs of Kablar, to which many legends are related. Recently, the Gorge also became interesting to those who love rural tourism, mountain biking, paragliding, bird watching, sports fishing and rafting. Finally, we can say that a wide range of visitors can enjoy the natural, cultural and spiritual heritage of the Ovčar-Kablar Gorge, because there is certainly something for every taste and level of physical fitness.
Attractiveness The Ovčar-Kablar Gorge is certainly an attractive area for the development of various forms of cultural, recreational, wellness and adventure tourism. Famous tourismologist Stanković places it immediately after the Danube river, mainly due to the attractiveness of its lakes, caves, thermal springs, monuments and ethnographic resources. SERBIA NO 64 2017
23