The Resava ( sr-Cyrl, Ресава) is a river in central
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
, a 65 km-long right tributary to the
Velika Morava
The Great Morava ( sr, Велика Морава, Velika Morava, ) is the final section of the Morava ( sr-Cyrl, Морава), a major river system in Serbia.
Etymology
According to Predrag Komatina from the Institute for Byzantine Studies ...
.
It also gives the name to the surrounding Resava region, the
Resava Monastery, the coal mines in its valley and a popular tourist destination of
Resava Cave.
River
The Resava originates from the
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 ...
region in eastern Serbia. It springs out at an altitude of 1,100 m and flows westward between the mountains of
Beljanica
Beljanica () is a mountain in the Homolje region in eastern Serbia, near the town of Žagubica
Žagubica ( sr-cyr, Жагубица, ; ro, Jagubița or ) is a village and municipality located in the Braničevo District of the eastern Serbia. ...
(on the north) and
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 ...
(on the south). In its upper course, the Resava runs parallel to its left tributary, the ''Kločanica'', and area around the villages of Strmosten, Vodna and
Stenjevac is known for many caves (''
Resava Cave'', ''Sokolica'', ''Crystal'', etc.).
The Resava carved a 25 km-long and 400 m-deep gorge, with a central part of it representing a typical
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 ...
valley, the ''Sklop''. In the gorge, the river becomes a
sinking river
A losing stream, disappearing stream, influent stream or sinking river is a stream or river that loses water as it flows downstream. The water infiltrates into the ground recharging the local groundwater, because the water table is below the bo ...
for a while and creates a 25 m-high
waterfall
A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...
, until recently, the highest one in central Serbia.
In its lower course, the river creates a typical epigene gallery feature, between the hills of Pastorak (570 m) and
Maćeha (Serbian for ''stepson'' and ''stepmother''). The river enters the Resava region and receives its major tributary, the
Resavica from the left near the Dvorište village. It passes next to the
Manasija
The Manasija Monastery ( sr, Манастир Манасија, Manastir Manasija, ) also known as Resava (Ресава, ), is a Serbian Orthodox monastery near Despotovac, Serbia founded by '' Despot'' Stefan Lazarević between 1406 and 1418. Th ...
monastery, small town and regional center of
Despotovac
Despotovac ( sr-cyr, Деспотовац) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. It is 130 kilometers southeast of Belgrade. Its name stems from Despot, a title of Serbian medieval prince Stefan Lazarevi ...
, and turns northwest, into the lower Resava region and western border of Veliko
Pomoravlje.
The Resava passes through the REMBAS coal mining region, next to the villages of Miliva,
Plažane
Plažane () is a village situated in Despotovac municipality in Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads ...
, Medveđa,
Subotica
Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...
, Sedlare, Lukovica and the regional center of lower Resava, the town of
Svilajnac
Svilajnac ( sr-cyr, Свилајнац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 9,131 inhabitants, while the municipality has 23,391 inhabitants.
It is located south-east o ...
, and soon after it empties into the
Velika Morava
The Great Morava ( sr, Велика Морава, Velika Morava, ) is the final section of the Morava ( sr-Cyrl, Морава), a major river system in Serbia.
Etymology
According to Predrag Komatina from the Institute for Byzantine Studies ...
.
The Resava belongs to the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
, drains an area of 744 km
2 and it is not navigable.
Region
The Resava region divides in two: Upper Resava (eastern) and Lower Resava (western).
Eastern Resava is located around the southern and western slopes of the Beljanica mountain. The area is partially
karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
, made of
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, and as a result of a porous terrain, many caves are formed.
Western Resava represents the extension of the peripannonic area of the southern
Pannonian plain
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only the ...
. It comprises the
Resava Coal Mines, with a small towns of
Resavica,
Despotovac
Despotovac ( sr-cyr, Деспотовац) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. It is 130 kilometers southeast of Belgrade. Its name stems from Despot, a title of Serbian medieval prince Stefan Lazarevi ...
and
Svilajnac
Svilajnac ( sr-cyr, Свилајнац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 9,131 inhabitants, while the municipality has 23,391 inhabitants.
It is located south-east o ...
. Apart from the mining, the area is mostly agricultural.
In the beginning of the 19th century, Resava was ''knežina'', one of the
Ottoman occupied Serbia's duchies with limited self-rule. Resava was ruled 1803-09 by the
vojvoda Stevan Sinđelić, one of the greatest heroes of the
First Serbian Uprising
The First Serbian Uprising ( sr, Prvi srpski ustanak, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; tr, Birinci Sırp Ayaklanması) was an uprising of Serbs in the Sanjak of Smederevo against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 18 ...
.
Resava Coal Mines
Resava-Morava Coal Mines (Resavsko-moravski ugljeni basen/Ресавско-моравски угљени басен) or shortly REMBAS (РЕМБАС) are located in the lower Resava river valley. They comprise the
brown coal
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...
mines of ''Resava'', ''Ravna Reka'', ''Vodna'' and ''Senjski Rudnik'' in the Resava watershed and the ''Jasenovac'' in the watershed of the
Mlava
The Mlava (Serbian Cyrillic: Млава) is a river in Serbia, 158 km long right tributary of the Danube.
Origin
Mlava originates as the ''Tisnica'', from the Kučaj mountains in eastern Serbia, under the ''Veliki Krš'' peak. It flows to ...
river. The basin is sometimes also referred to as the Senj-Resava Coal Mines (Senjsko-resavski ugljeni basen/Сењско-ресавски угљени басен).
References
* ''Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija'', Third edition (1985); Prosveta;
* Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): ''Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije''; Svjetlost-Sarajevo;
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Resava (River)
Rivers of Serbia