Čestobrodica (, also known as Stolice, ), a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in East Serbia that connects

Morava Valley The Morava Valley ( / ''Pomoravlje'', ), is a general term which in its widest sense marks valleys of any of three Morava rivers in Serbia: the West Morava ( West Morava Valley), the South Morava ( South Morava Valley) and the Great Morava ( ...

with the

Timok Valley The Timok Valley (; ; ) is a geographical region in east Serbia around the Timok River. The Timok Valley corresponds to parts of two Serbian districts ( Bor and Zaječar), with a total 2022 census population of 200,785. Name The Serbian name is ...

Geography

Čestobrodica Pass (600 m above sea level) is a pass on the

Paraćin Paraćin ( sr-Cyrl, Параћин, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. Located in the Velika Morava river valley, north of Kruševac and southeast of Kragujevac, the town had a population of 22,349 ...

Zaječar Zaječar ( sr-Cyrl, Зајечар, ; or ) is a city and the administrative center of the Zaječar District in eastern Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city administrative area had a population of 48,621 inhabitants. Zaječar is widely ...

main road, which together with the

Kučaj Kučaj (, ) is a mountain range in eastern Serbia. Its highest peak, ''Velika Tresta'' has an elevation of 1,284 meters above sea level. They belong to the Serbian extension of Carpathians, which separate the valleys of Great Morava and Timok. ...

mountain represents the junction between the Crnica and

Crni Timok The Crni Timok ( sr-Cyrl, Црни Тимок, "Black Timok"), also known as ''Crna River'' ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Црна река, Crna reka, separator=" / ", "Black River") or ''Krivovirski Timok'' (, "Timok of Krivi Vir"), is a headwater of the Tim ...

watersheds. Also known as Stolice, this pass is famous because it is where the gorge of the Čestobrodica river begins, previously known as one of the insurmountable obstacles for all types of road vehicles in winter. Čestobrodica Pass is the easiest road from the

into the

and the Paraćin Basin.

History

Čestobrodica was the site of a battle between the

Royal Serbian Army The Army of the Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Војска Краљевине Србије, Vojska Kraljevine Srbije), known in English language, English as the Royal Serbian Army, was the army of the Kingdom of Serbia that existed between 1882 ...

and rebelling peasants during the

Timok Rebellion The Timok Rebellion ( sr-cyr, Тимочка буна, Timočka buna) was a popular uprising that began in eastern Serbia (now the region of the Timok Valley) on 28 September 1883, led by the People's Radical Party. It has been called the most imp ...

of 1883. After establishing the insurgent government in

Boljevac Boljevac ( sr-cyr, Бољевац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zaječar District of eastern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the population of the town was 2,894, while population of the municipality was 10,184. History From 192 ...

on November 3, 1883, about 3,000 insurgents went to Četobrodica to make an ambush for the government army. On November 9, the Royal Army easily defeated the rebels, who fled after only a token resistance.

Никола Гажевић Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος) and it means "the winner of the people". It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulg ...

, Војна енциклопедија 9, Војноиздавачки завод, Београд (1975), стр. 795

References

{{morecat, date=July 2023 Geography of Serbia