Lazar's Canyon or Lazar's Gorge ( sr, Лазарев Кањон / Lazarev Kanjon, italic=yes) is located at about 10 kilometers from Bor. This is the deepest and longest

canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

in eastern Serbia. Because of its steep rocky

cliffs In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

, the canyon has not yet been fully examined. The canyon is famous for its numerous caves and pits. The best known are

Lazareva Pećina The Lazareva Pećina, which translates Lazar's Cave, is the longest explored cave in Serbia. Located in Bor municipality, near Zlot, the cave is also sometimes referred to as Zlotska Cave. According to 2012's ''Recent Landform Evolution: The Ca ...

(also known as Zlotska) and Vernikica and Dubašnička cave (also known as “Zlot caves”). Entire Lazar’s canyon is under state protection, and because of its unique beauty and rich

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

, represents a challenge to all lovers of wilderness and unspoiled nature. The canyon is quite inaccessible, and passing through it is a real adventure, at times quite challenging and arduous. In many places it is necessary to clamber over the rocks. Lazar’s Canyon, up to 9 km long and between 300 and 500 meters in height, is the longest canyon in eastern Serbia. It is cut in the limestone massif of the South

Kučaj Kučaj ( sr, Кучај, ) 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 Morav ...

mountain, and through it flows the river of the same name. On all sides there are sheltered rocky reefs: from the south and southeast rises Malinik (1087 m) from the North Strnjak (720 m) and Kornjet (696 m), and from the west Pogar (883 m) and Mikulja (1022 m). The

of the canyon are vertical and straight, and the width at the narrowest part of the canyon is less than seven meters.

History

Lazar's canyon, through which flows the river of the same name, was during the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

, one of the most important refuge place of

Homolje Homolje ( sr-Cyrl, Хомоље, ) is a small geographical region in east Serbia south of the Danube river. It is centered on the town of Žagubica, with smaller parts belonging to municipalities of Kučevo, Majdanpek and Petrovac. In the narrow ...

brigand. This canyon to outlaw meant salvation, because the

have never dared to follow them. Legend has it that after the battle of Marica in 1371, the cavalry of Lazar of Serbia came to this area, and stayed in the canyon for some time. Sunrise, Lazarev Kanjon

Location

The entrance to the Lazar’s canyon is in front of the

, which is a convenient place to raise the camp, since that is the only source of drinking water in the canyon. You can reach the spring if you go to a suspension bridge, then turn left and you pass an abandoned motel. The canyon is quite inaccessible, in it there are walking tracks and the terrain is extremely difficult because of the large number of big rocks and fallen trees. For this reason it is necessary to have hiking shoes, and other mountaineering equipment. The canyon is full with poisonous snakes (the most common is viper) so caution is therefore needed, since it takes about two hours to get to help. After 5–7 hours walk, Lazar’s Canyon branch. At this point there is a signpost on the left to Malinik, and on the right to the river Demizlok. Water from the river Demizlok is good to drink, at least judging by our experience. About 1 hour walk after the abyss, after moving to the right side of the river you exit the canyon. Across the fields one reaches a road which leads back to the Zlot village. After a 1-hour walk in the direction of Zlot, on the right side of the road there is a source of drinking water, which is not marked by any benchmark. The spring is located on a large meadow, downhill from the main road, in a small alcove. Beside the spring there are several houses in which farmers keep livestock in the summer. Along the way there are some fantastic vantage points overlooking the canyon. The time required to cross the canyon is 8-9h.

Wildlife

Native to Lazarev Canyon are rare plants such as the Crimean pine and relict species of

Taxus ''Taxus'' is a genus of coniferous trees or shrubs known as yews in the family Taxaceae. They are relatively slow-growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of , with trunk girth averaging . They have reddish bark, lanceolate, flat, ...

and

Serbian ramonda ''Ramonda serbica'', also known as Serbian ramonda and Serbian phoenix flower, is a species in the family Gesneriaceae. It is one of the few European representatives of this family, found in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia and Serbia. ...

, and

animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...

Chamois The chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of goat-antelope native to mountains in Europe, from west to east, including the Alps, the Dinarides, the Tatra and the Carpathian Mountains, the Balkan Mountains, the Ril ...

Golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of p ...

True owl The true owls or typical owls (family Strigidae) are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls (Tytonidae). This large family comprises 230 living or recently extinct species in 24 genera. The typical owl ...

Peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...

s, endemic

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s, and

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

Picture gallery

File:Kanjon Lazarev.jpg, Lazar's Canyon File:Lazarev Kanjon 3.jpg, Lazar's Canyon River File:Lazarev kanjon 5.jpg, Lazar's Canyon File:Lazarev Kanjon.jpg, Lazar's Canyon entrance File:Jungle, Lazarev Kanjon.jpg, Forest in Lazar's Canyon

References

External links