|
TODAY |
|
Serbia |
|
Copyright © 2010 SERBIA TODAY |
|
|
|
SERBIA FACT SHEET: |
|
Natural Attractions |
|
Devil's town
When traveling to Serbia, Devil’s Town (Djavolja varoš– serb.) is one of the “must see!” tourist attractions. It is one of the most attractive natural phenomena in the world. It is a place of strange forms with a strange name, a complex of stone-capped, spindle-shaped pillars in science referred to as “soil pyramids”. It consists of 220 soil figures created by soil erosion. The site got its name Devil's Town for its strange appearance, being a very rare form of erosion. The process of erosion has been going on at this site for centuries, therefore making some figures disappear and forming new ones... The peculiarity which makes it different from other similar phenomena in the world is the so called “Djavolja voda” (Devil's water), extremely acid water between the pillars, universally unique for its chemical composition, extreme acidity and high mineral content. Metal presence in the water is from 5 to incredible 16 percent. There are many legends and folk tales about its origins, most of which say that the pillars represent people at a wedding petrified by God's wrath.
|
|
Caves in Serbia
By:Bojana Jankovic Uzice, March 06, 2010. (Serbia Today) - In the vicinity of a Serbian village Zlot, there are caves rich in stalactites and stalgmites. Known under the joint name of „Zlot’s caves“ are Lazarus’ cave, Vodena, Mandina, Vernjikica and Hajducica. Lazarus’ cave is distanced 3 kilometers from Zlot, and its entrance in on the left side of the Lazarus’river bank, at a sea level of 291 meters. Lazarus’ cave belongs to a group of authentic speleologic objects, which has fossil and active channels. These channels were made by a river, and their length is 1591 meters. Half of the researched channels are accesible to the visitors, and the „Entrance Hall“ is interesting as a first encounter with the world of underground silence and eternal darkness. The „Concert Hall“,“Hall of Bats“ are decorated by stalactites, stalagmites, cave columns, draperies, calcite tubs different shapes and sizes. „Strogovi“, „Fountain“, „Plast“, „Bizon“, „King’s Lodge“,“Conductor“, ’Orchestra“, „Falls“, „Duke’s Lazar Tower“, are the names of the biggest and most beautiful cave jewels. Together with a Lazarus’ cave and Lazarus’ river, the cave Vernjikica is under the nature conservation protection. It is located 1.5 kilometers away from the Lazarus’ cave, at the sea level of 454 meters. It connects to Lazarus’ cave with a walking path. Its name derives from Vlachos word “var” meaning “limestone”. The first excavation dates from 1960, while the walking path was made during the tourist visitation project in 1976. Interesting for this cave is that it was created by dry limestone. It consists of many Halls and narrow passages. Some of the magnificent Halls are ,”Reception Hall”, “Cascade”, “Fairy-town”, “Abyss”, “Colosseum”, “Hall of Weapons”, “Marble Hall”. A huge quantity of stalactites and stalagmites in different shapes and colors are a special attraction of Vernjikica cave. At the entrance of “Fairy-town” hall, there is a massive 8 meters red column, and in the “Colosseum” hall the main attraction is a stalagmite called “Colossus” 11.5 meters high. Stalagmite group called “Godzilla” 10 meters high, and coral like jewels are obligatory to see. The biggest attraction is a lit stalagmite “Venus” and “Silver fir” located in the “Marble Hall”. The “Hall of Weapons” got its name by many stalactites located there in a shape of spears, arrows, swords and daggers. In the Eastern part of Serbia , 20 km away from a town of Despotovac, in a limestone hill “Grandma’s Head” at the sea level of 485 meters, is located “Resava’s cave”. It is the oldest cave in Serbia of around 80 million years old. Its formation started with a chemical and mechanical activity of a lost river before the ice age. However, this cave is discovered only in 1962, and was open for visitors in 1972. Its length is 4.5 kilometers, researched are 2830 meters, and for visitors are open only 800 meters. Resava’s cave has a constant temperature of +7 C, but the air humidity fluctuates from 80-100%. Numerous and diverse halls, channels, galleries, columns, stalactites, stalagmites, draperies and petrified waterfalls describe the inside of this cave. Just at the entrance to the cave there is a cave jewelry created by dissolving of calcium carbonate. The color of the jewelry depends on a kind of mineral that the water has passed through. The red color of jewels was created from the iron oxide, white from crystal calcium, and yellow from acid presence. While walking through the cave, the visitors walk over the concrete spiral path. It goes through different halls on two levels (upper and lower galleries). Resava’s cave is under the nature conservation protection. In East Serbia, in Boljevac borrow, near the village of Bogovina, there is a Bogovina cave. Its entrance is at a sea level of 360 meters. It is one of the longest caves in Serbia, and the length of researched channels is around 6 km. By its horizontal underground shape, it is a cross intersected by many channels and has three levels. It is full of cave jewels. In the West part of Serbia, on the North-East side of Zlatibor mountain, 30 km away from Uzice and 250 km from Belgrade is located Stopica cave. A Trnava creek passes through it. The sea level of the cave entrance is 711 meters. Lime layer at its bottom dates from a tries period, and is thick around 100 meters. The cave temperature is under the influence of the outerworld, and the water of Trnava creek contributes to that effect. Stopica cave consists of 4 parts: Light Hall, Dark Hall, Big Hall with tubs, and River Channel. With few very attractive elements, the touristic part of the cave is very attractive even though there is no cave jewelry. A famous cave whose entrance is in a shape of a horseshoe is also located near the town of Uzice. Its height is 50 meters, width at the base is 12 meters, and the vault is 22 meters. It is hollowed out on a limestone hill, and researched and arranged part is 555 meters. The entrance-exit path has 700 steps. By its geological structure it is created in a limestone of white color, mosaic structures and cracked. The Upper and Lower caves are two main levels, and by destruction of an midlevel structure was created an entrance. The average annual temperature inside the cave is 9.5C. Caves of Serbia are its hidden treasure and many are still waiting to be discovered.
|