G E O P O E T I C S IN THE MORAVICA GORGE, ABOVE SOKOBANJA, FOLLOWING TRACES OF OLD LEGENDS AND YOUNG HOPES
Fascinations in the City of Falcons
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The old fortified city exists at least since Justinian (VI century). It defended passageways towards the Morava valley, guarded the Nišava and Timok sides, the entrance hall of mount Rtanj. It hosted caravans heading to Europe and Asia. Its ruler kept falcons and paid taxes to the crown in trained birds. Today everyone there knows that cities are better guarded by stories than cannons. This landscape and this fortress, under the skies bursting above us as nowhere else, can have an exceptional place on the romantic map of Serbia Text and Photo: Svetlana Dingarac
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G E O P O E T I C S
G
reat, most often unfortunate loves, whether they really hap pened or are result of writers’ fiction, folk legends, lately filmography, have always inspired the imagination of people. Some of the most famous world destinations used its romantic heritage to spice up the existing tourist offer and attract more visitors. Is there a traveler who visited, for example, Verona, with out visiting all places related to the most tragic imaginary lovers in history – Ro meo and Juliet? How many couples in love went to Morocco to experience at least a small piece of passion eternal ized in the legendary Casablanca movie, or even distant India, to promise their love to one another in the shadow of Taj Mahal, the biggest monument of love of
On Popovica, above Moravica Gorge, opposite Sokograd
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all times? Without wishing to begin a philosophical discussion whether eter nal love is reality or “remaining crumb of myths”, we asked ourselves where Ser bian stands on this love-tourism map of the world and who our most famous lovers are? Searching for the most beau tiful romances, we first went to Soko banja spa, where we heard the legend about Lepterija and Župan, as well as the passionate, history-based story of Hay duk Veljko and Čučuk Stana. Love sto ries intersecting on each step with rich natural, cultural and spiritual heritage, relaxing thermo-mineral springs and ex quisite gastronomic offer, satisfying even the most refined taste, make this spa an excellent place for a romantic weekend for two. SRBIJA BROJ 65 2017.
LOVE BETWEEN ŽUPAN AND LEPTERIJA Following the Moravica river towards the southeast, only two and a half kilome ters from the center of Sokobanja, stand the remains of Sokograd, a medieval for tification also known as Sokolac. It used to be a famous city of falcons (Serbian “soko”), which can often be seen flying over its walls raised on a steep and almost inaccessible height, in a place where the wooded slopes of mount Ozren suddenly tumble into the depths of the canyon. There are many legends related to Sok ograd. According to one, Župan, son of the owner of the nearby city of Vrmdžan, fell
in love with beautiful Lepterija, daughter of the then ruler of Sokograd. Their love was as great and strong as the conflict be tween their fathers, who constantly fought for estates, and therefore didn’t approve their relationship. One night, deeply sad because of her father’s ban, Lepterija de cided to run away with Župan. It made her father so furious that he ordered his servants to kill her as soon as they find her. And they did. When he saw what hap pened to his beloved one, Župan jumped into the deepest whirlpool of the Moravica river and drowned. Today the glade on the way to Sokograd carries the name Lepterija and the whirlpool, today the most wonder ful beach on the Moravica, is called Župan.
There is another interpretation of the name Lepterija, which is more probable. According to it, the name originates from the Greek word elefteria (freedom). The sto ry goes that in the Roman times, the major
Through Époques The earliest preserved written document about Sokograd is from the twelfth century. It was conquered by Stefan Nemanja in 1172 and since then became part of the Serbian medieval state. Konstantin Philosopher mentions it in early fifteenth century, in 1413, when it was seized by the Turks. It was under AustroHungarians for a while and in 1808, when it lost its strategic importance, it was taken over by Hayduk Veljko Petrović for a short while. After that time, the fortification was deserted and fell into oblivion and ruins. SERBIA NO 65 2017
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G E O P O E T I C S for parts of walls, rectangular tower and main gate. The entrance to the upper city was through a donjon tower, the strongest tower in the fortification. A rectangular tower with loopholes was preserved with in the upper city, as well as a water tank, vaulted with stone and cut into a rock, with discovered ceramic pipes for rainwa ter supply. There are two more rectangu lar towers connected with a long wall with openings for cannons. A citadel made the center of the fortification, on an inacces sible peak with a dominant main tower. This is there the city ruler lived. The exact time of construction of Sok ograd is unknown. Studies performed in the early 1980s indicate that it was prob
View of Sokograd and Popovica. Rtanj is seen in the distance
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ity of slaves in the fortification were Greeks. They sometimes rested from hard labor on the nearby glade, which they called place of freedom. Fugitives from Sokograd would reach freedom if they reached this glade without being seized by the chase. Although less romantic, this legend made us wonder, as in the famous verse of Branko Miljković: “Was freedom able to sing as the slaves sang about it?” It seems it did, since this name has existed for more than fourteen centu ries in its original meaning. It is assumed that several other lo cal toponyms also appeared at the time of construction of Sokograd. In order to make the building on inaccessible terrain easier, its architects made a dam of stone SRBIJA BROJ 65 2017.
and calf skin. After blocking the Moravi ca, they made a lake for transporting the stone for building the fortification. The dam broke once, the water rushed into the valley downstream from it and extermi nated (Serbian istrebiti) the entire village. The hill which the water rolled over (Ser bian prevaliti) is today called Prevalac, and the place where the entire settlement was exterminated is called Trebič. TOWARDS THE FORTRESS, THROUGH THE GORGE The Moravica gorge is valued as a land scape of exquisite features “Lepterija – Sokograd”. Due to its “exquisite landscape
diversity, attractive geomorphological features and phenomena, rich and diverse flora and fauna, as well as cultural and his torical values”, it was put under protection in 2002. Almost the entire gorge is covered with thick oak tree forests and hornbeam shrubs, inhabited by northern crested newt, southern white-breasted hedgehog, hazel dormouse and least weasel. Climbing up the cliffs of the previously unconquerable Sokograd is a true adven ture for all those who wish to see its ar cheological remains and enjoy the magnif icent view. Research showed that the city consisted of two parts – upper and lower – and that it was very scattered and large. Most of the lower city is destroyed, except
ably built in the sixth century, at the time of Emperor Justinian. The vicinity of the im perial palace Felix Romuliana and the Ro man city of Naisus with Mediana indicate the significance and possible purpose of this fortification. Sokograd, as well as Vrmdžan on the northwest edge of the Sokobanja ba sin under mount Rtanj, was a military point. It probably served for accommodating cara vans traveling between Europe and Asia. The very name of Sokograd originates from its owners’ profession. They kept fal cons and paid taxes, the so-called falcon tax, in trained birds. It is considered that falconry existed in Serbian lands already since the establishing of the first medieval state. At the time, hunting with falcons was an exclusive privilege of aristocrats and rulers. Documents state that already the SERBIA NO 65 2017
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G E O P O E T I C S
Mother of God in the Rock There are two springs (of warm and cold water) in Lepterija, the most popular excursion site in the vicinity of Sokobanja, as well as places for swimming and sunbathing. The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother of God, as well as the natural phenomenon “Mother of God in the Rock”, are nearby. Under certain angles and light, at some times of the day and year, the reflection in the vertical rock, high above the Moravica, truly resembles a face of a mother breastfeeding her child. According to the legend, Mother of God hid in that shallow hole with Christ while fleeing from the Romans. In the streams which sometimes sprout from the rock in that place, some see mother’s tears and some mother’s milk. We’ll not mention those who don’t see anything.
Church of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God on Ozren, not far from Lepterija
glorious Nemanjićs used those aristocratic and sharp-eyed birds for hunting, and one of the biggest fanciers of falconry was Des pot Stefan Lazarević. He died during hunt ing “with a falcon on his shoulder”. HEALING PASSION
On Moravica
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Love is a basis for another story and tourist attraction related to the vicinity of Sokobanja. In the nearby mount Ozren, on a vast meadow surrounded with coniferous forests, there is a “stone of love”, on which, according to the legend, Hayduk Veljko and Čučuk Stana made their commitment of love. It is believed that if two people in
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love stand on that stone and kiss, they will take a pledge of eternal love. The legend goes that the romance of these two Serbian fighters for liberation from centuries-long slavery under the Turks began in 1812, in the home of the Negotin priest. With a short stature but fearless spirit, Čučuk Stana ap proached Hayduk Veljko and asked him impudently: “Aren’t your boys supposed to kill Turks, not steal girls’ dowries?” Veljko was confused, since no woman ever ad dressed him in such a way. When it turned out that his boys plundered several villages and mistakenly took the dowry of the one standing before him, Veljko gave her dow ry and asked her to marry him: “I gave you your dowry, now you’re mine!” So their ro mance began and continued in the forests and caves of Ozren and Devica, where they hid, fought and loved. We hope that we succeeded in inspir ing you to experience your own romantic story in Sokobanja. The possibilities of romance are limited only by your imagi nation. If you dare do it... you will return from the spa happier, younger and certain ly healthier. Because, perhaps love passion hides the meaning of Branislav Nušić’s fa mous saying: “Sokobanja, Sokograd, / you come old and return young.”
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