The Morava Valley ( sr, Поморавље / ''Pomoravlje'', ), is a general term which in its widest sense marks
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...
s of any of three Morava rivers in
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 ...
: the
West Morava
West Morava ( sr, Западна Морава, Zapadna Morava, ) is a river in Central Serbia, a 184 km-long headstream of the Great Morava, which it forms with the South Morava. It was known as Brongus in antiquity.
Origin
The West Morav ...
(
West Morava Valley
The Morava Valley ( sr, Поморавље / ''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
South Morava
The South Morava ( Macedonian and Serbian: Јужна Морава, ''Južna Morava'', ; sq, Lumi Morava) is a river in eastern Kosovo and in southern Serbia, which represents the shorter headwater of Great Morava. Today, it is 295 km lon ...
(
South Morava Valley) and the
Great 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 ...
(
Great Morava Valley). In the narrow sense, the term is applied only to the Great Morava Valley ( sr, Велико Поморавље / ''Veliko Pomoravlje''). The Serbian term follows the general manner of coining river valley names in
Serbian using the prefix ''po-'' and suffix ''-je'', meaning literally "(land) along the Morava". Morava valley lies in the central
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, at the crossroads which lead eastwards, towards 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 ...
and
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, and further south, down the
Vardar
The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...
river into the
Aegean sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...
.
The West Morava Valley
Location
The West Morava Valley ( sr, Западно Поморавље / ''Zapadno Pomoravlje'') is the
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...
of the
West Morava
West Morava ( sr, Западна Морава, Zapadna Morava, ) is a river in Central Serbia, a 184 km-long headstream of the Great Morava, which it forms with the South Morava. It was known as Brongus in antiquity.
Origin
The West Morav ...
. It is the southernmost Peripannonic region of Serbia. It is parallel,
latitudinally elongated, in the west-to-east direction, opposed to the
meridian
Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to
Science
* Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon
* ...
, south-to-north direction of South Morava Valley and Great Morava Valley. It occupies and area of 5,220 square kilometers and generally corresponds to the valley of the West Morava River and sections of its watershed around the rivers of
Skrapež
Skrapež is a village in the municipality of Vlasotince, Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern a ...
,
Đetinja
Đetinja ( sr-Cyrl, Ђетиња; ) is a river in western Serbia, a long natural but shorter headstream of the Zapadna Morava River.
The Đetinja river valley serves as a route for the Belgrade-Bar railway.
Name
According to the legend which ...
(headwaters of West Morava) and
Rasina (a tributary, near the confluence with South Morava). It is generally bounded by the mountains of
Tara,
Zlatibor
Zlatibor ( sr-cyr, Златибoр ) is a mountainous region situated in the western part of Serbia.
Among the most popular places in Serbia for tourism, Zlatibor's main attractions include health tourism, skiing, and hiking and the longest p ...
,
Jelica
Jelica (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелица) is a mountain in central Serbia, near the town of Čačak
Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Mora ...
,
Goč
Goč (Serbian Cyrillic: Гоч) is a mountainous area in central Serbia, about 15 km south of the spa town of Vrnjačka Banja. Its highest peak ''Ljukten'' (Serbian Cyrillic: ''Љуктен'') has an elevation of above sea level.
Goč is a popul ...
,
Suvobor
Suvobor (Serbian Cyrillic: Сувобор) is a mountain in central Serbia, near the town of Gornji Milanovac. Its highest peak ''Suvobor'' has an elevation of above sea level.
The northwestern part of Suvobor is called Rajac (847 m ) and i ...
,
Maljen
Maljen ( sr, Маљен) () is a mountain in western Serbia, just south of the city of Valjevo. It is well known as a summer and winter resort. The highest peak is Kraljev Sto, at above sea level, followed by Crni Vrh at . On Maljen is situated r ...
,
Kotlenik
Kotlenik (Serbian Cyrillic: Котленик) is a mountain in central Serbia, near the town of Kraljevo
Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the ...
and
Gledić, that is, by the large geographical regions of
Šumadija
Šumadija (, sr-Cyrl, Шумадија) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The area used to be heavily covered with forests, hence the name (from ''šuma'' 'forest'). The city of Kragujevac is the administrative center of the ...
and
Stari Vlah Stari ( sla, Stari, "Old One") could have multiple meanings:
* Stari, a rural locality in Babushkinsky District of Vologda Oblast of Russia.
* Stari, a nickname of Đuro Pucar.
* Stari, a nickname of Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, ...
.
Geography
The West Morava Valley is a
composite
Composite or compositing may refer to:
Materials
* Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances
** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts
** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials
...
valley, which means it consists of a sequence of valleys (depressions) and gorges. Sections include:
* The Požega Depression (''Požeška kotlina'') – the starting point of the West Morava Valley. Tašti field is a place where the rivers of Skrapež, Đetinja and
Golijska Moravica
The Golijska Moravica or simply Moravica ( sr-Cyrl, Голијска Моравица or ) is a river in western Serbia. With a length of 98 km, it is the longer headstream of the West Morava (the name it takes at its confluence with the Đet ...
meet to create West Morava. The depression is located between the mountains of
Krstac
Krstac (Serbian Cyrillic: Крстац) is a mountain in central Serbia, near the town of Guča
Guča (Serbian Cyrillic: Гуча, pronounced ) is a small town located in the Lučani municipality, Moravica District, Serbia. As of 2011 census, i ...
on the east,
Blagaja
Blagaja (Serbian Cyrillic: Благаја) is a mountain in central Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroad ...
on the south,
Crna Kosa on the north-west and
Loret on the north-east. The depression is known for frequent fogs, due to the abundance in water sources (tributaries of Bjelica, Kravarička reka, Lužnica). The central settlement is the town of
Požega and smaller settlements are
Lučani
Lučani ( sr-cyr, Лучани) is a town and municipality located in the Moravica District of western Serbia. The population of the town is 5,142, while the population of the municipality is 20,897.
Settlements
Aside from the town of Lučani, t ...
and
Gorobilje
Gorobilje is a village in the municipality of Požega, western Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 1506 people.Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i Stanova 2002. Knjiga 1: Nacionalna ili etnička pripadnost po nas ...
.
* The
Ovčar-Kablar Gorge
The Ovčar-Kablar Gorge ( sr-cyr, Овчарско-кабларска клисура, Ovčarsko-kablarska klisura) is a gorge in the western part of central Serbia, in the part of the composite valley of the West Morava river, within the geographi ...
(''Ovčarsko-kablarska klisura'') – a narrow of the West Morava valley, between the mountains of
Ovčar
Ovčar (Serbian Cyrillic: Овчар, ) is a mountain in western Serbia, near the city of Čačak. Its highest peak has an elevation of 985 meters above sea level. Along with Kablar, Ovčar forms the attractive Ovčar-Kablar Gorge of the West ...
(985 meters) on the south and
Kablar
Kablar (Serbian Cyrillic: Каблар, ) is a mountain in central Serbia. It has an elevation of 889 meters above sea level. It lies near the city of Čačak. With nearby Ovčar, it forms the Ovčar-Kablar Gorge of the West Morava
West Morava ...
(885 meters) on the north. The gorge is a meandering and 15 kilometers long. Epigynous in nature, it is a crucial for the genesis of the entire West Morava Valley. The gorge is a location of Ovčar Spa and 10
Serbian Orthodox
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The majority of the population in ...
monasteries, which is why the gorge has been nicknamed Serbian
Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...
. There are two hydro electrical power plants with artificial lakes: ''Ovčar'' and ''Međuvršje''.
* The Čačak-Kraljevo Depression (''Čačansko-kraljevačka kotlina'') – the largest tectonic-erosive depression of all in the valley. It covers an area of 270 square kilometers and is elongated for 40 kilometers. Despite being this long, it is located between only three mountains: Kotlenik on the north and Jelica and
Stolovi
Stolovi (Serbian Cyrillic: Столови) is a mountain in central Serbia, near the city of Kraljevo
Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the co ...
on the south. West Morava receives many tributaries in this area. Apart from
Ibar river
The Ibar ( sr-cyrl, Ибар, ), also known as the Ibër and Ibri ( sq, Ibër, Ibri), is a river that flows through eastern Montenegro, northern Kosovo and central Serbia, with a total length of . The river begins in the Hajla mountain, in Roža ...
, the longest tributary to West Morava, and
Gruža, most of them are short and include Dičina, Lađevačka reka, Ribnica, etc. Main settlements are the towns of
Čačak
Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley within the geographical region of Šumadija. , the city proper has 73,331 inhabitants, wh ...
, the most populous settlement in the entire West Morava Valley, and
Kraljevo
Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar, in the geographical region of Šumadija, between the mountains of K ...
. Other smaller settlements include
Preljina
Preljina ( sr, Прељина) is a village located in the municipality of Čačak
Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley withi ...
,
Mrčajevci
Mrčajevci ( sr-cyrl, Мрчајевци, ) is a village in the city of Čačak, Serbia. It is located in Central Serbian region of Šumadija.
According to the 2011 census, the village has a population of 2,767 inhabitants.
Excavations of pre-his ...
,
Ribnica,
Adrani
Adrani is a village in the municipality of Kraljevo, western-central Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Sou ...
,
Konarevo,
Žiča
The Žiča Monastery ( sr, Манастир Жича, Manastir Žiča, or ) is an early 13th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery near Kraljevo, Serbia. The monastery, together with the Church of the Holy Dormition, was built by the first King of ...
, etc., most of them suburbs of either Čačak or Kraljevo.
* The Vrnjci Depression (''Vrnjačka kotlina'') – widening at the confluence of the small Vrnjačka and Lipovačka rivers. Area, located between the mountains of Gledić on the north and Goč on the south, is rich in
mineral springs
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage underg ...
. The most popular Serbian
mineral spa
Mineral spas are destination spa, spa resorts developed around naturally occurring mineral springs. Like seaside resorts, they are mainly used recreationally although they also figured prominently in traditional medicine, prescientific medicine. ...
,
Vrnjačka Banja
Vrnjačka Banja ( sr-cyr, Врњачка Бања) is a town and municipality located in the Raška District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 10,065 inhabitants, while the population of the municipality is 27,527 inhabitants.
Vrnja ...
is located in the depression. Other settlements include
Vrnjci
Vrnjci is a village in the municipality of Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the ...
,
Gračac
Gračac (; ) is a town and municipality in the southern part of Lika, Croatia. The municipality is administratively part of Zadar County.
Gračac is located south of Udbina, northeast of Obrovac, northwest of Knin and southeast of Gospić.
Settl ...
and
Novo Selo.
* The Trstenik Depression (''Trstenička kotlina'') – depression centered around the town of
Trstenik, direct extension of Vrnjci depression. Agricultural area, other settlements include larger villages of
Medveđa
Medveđa ( sr-cyr, Медвеђа, ; sq, Medvegja, ) is a town and municipality located in the Jablanica District of southern Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 2,848 inhabitants, while the municipality has 7,438 ...
and
Velika Drenova
Velika Drenova ( sr, Велика Дренова) is a village of about 5,000 inhabitants in Trstenik municipality, Rasina District, Serbia. It is located on the Zapadna Morava River in the central Serbian area of Šumadija. Velika Drenova is th ...
.
* The Kruševac Depression (''Kruševačka kotlina'') – final section of the West Morava Valley, a large widening at the confluence with South Morava which directly extends into the Great Morava Valley on the north. Itself, extends into the south in the valley of the Rasina River and it is bounded by the
Jastrebac
Jastrebac (Serbian Cyrillic: Јастребац) is a mountain in central Serbia, between cities of Niš, Kruševac and Prokuplje. It consists of two massifs, Great (''Veliki'') and Small (''Mali'') Jastrebac. Its highest peak ''Velika Đulica'' ...
mountain on the south. The largest settlement is the town of
Kruševac
Kruševac ( sr-cyr, Крушевац, , tr, Alacahisar or Kruşevca) is a city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina river. According to the 2011 census, t ...
and its suburbs of
Parunovac
Parunovac is a settlement in the municipality of Kruševac, Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern ...
,
Pepeljevac,
Jasika, etc.
Artificial lake of Ćelije is created on the Rasina.
Sub-regions
The West Morava Valley comprises several historical and geographical regions of Serbia, which are its own geographical sub-regions. From west to east, they are:
Population
The West Morava Valley had a population of 531,978 inhabitants by the 2002 census of population, which gives an average population density of 102 inhabitants per square kilometer. The largest is in the area of Čačak (184 per km
2) and the smallest in the neighboring area of Lučani (54 per km
2). Despite large urban centers, population has been depopulating for almost two decades. The population of the Morava Valley by the official censuses of population:
* 1948 – 375,798
* 1953 – 417,667
* 1961 – 448,393
* 1971 – 493,905
* 1981 – 541,428
* 1991 – 551,871
* 2002 – 531,978
Largest settlements of the West Morava Valley in 2002 were:
*
Čačak
Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley within the geographical region of Šumadija. , the city proper has 73,331 inhabitants, wh ...
– 73,217
*
Kraljevo
Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar, in the geographical region of Šumadija, between the mountains of K ...
– 57,411
*
Kruševac
Kruševac ( sr-cyr, Крушевац, , tr, Alacahisar or Kruşevca) is a city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina river. According to the 2011 census, t ...
– 57,347
*
Trstenik – 17,180
*
Požega – 13,206
*
Vrnjačka Banja
Vrnjačka Banja ( sr-cyr, Врњачка Бања) is a town and municipality located in the Raška District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 10,065 inhabitants, while the population of the municipality is 27,527 inhabitants.
Vrnja ...
– 9,877
*
Aleksandrovac
Aleksandrovac ( sr-cyr, Александровац) is a town and municipality located in the Rasina District of central Serbia. As of 2011, the town has a population of 6,476 inhabitants, while the municipality has 26,522 inhabitants.
History
Fr ...
– 6,476
*
Lučani
Lučani ( sr-cyr, Лучани) is a town and municipality located in the Moravica District of western Serbia. The population of the town is 5,142, while the population of the municipality is 20,897.
Settlements
Aside from the town of Lučani, t ...
– 4,309
Economy
The West Morava Valley is economically the most developed of all three Morava river valleys. Being a large floodplain, frequently flooded by the West Morava due to the extreme fluctuation of its discharge, The West Morava Valley was always an agricultural area, but in the second half of 20th century industry also developed in all major towns along the river.
Agriculture
Fertile land in the valley is best for grains and orchards. Corn is being cultivated in the Čačak-Kraljevo depression, while wheat is being grown in the Kruševac depression. Dragačevo region is known for the potato production. Čačak area is known for the plum growing, Požega is known for the apples ("budimka" brand) and Župa region around Aleksandrovac is famous for white grapes and wine production. The reservoir Parmenac near Čačak is created for the purpose of irrigation and further fertilization of the land. Also, out of all three sections of the Morava Valley, the West Morava Valley is the most forested one.
Mining and industry
The West Morava Valley is rich in
ore
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 April 2 ...
s. It includes the mining of
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 ...
("West Morava's coal basin"),
hard coal
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the high ...
,
asbestos
Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
,
magnesite
Magnesite is a mineral with the chemical formula (magnesium carbonate). Iron, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may occur as admixtures, but only in small amounts.
Occurrence
Magnesite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic ro ...
,
chromium
Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal.
Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...
, etc. As a result, the industry is very developed with a string of heavily industrialized towns: Požega, Čačak, Kraljevo, Trstenik and Kruševac. With the valley of the Ibar, the West Morava has a huge potential in electricity production. Hydroelectric power plants Ovčar (6 MW) and Međuvršje (7 MW) with artificial lakes are built near Čačak, in the Ovčar-Kablar gorge, so as the lakes Parmenac (also on Morava) and Ćelije (on Rasina).
Transportation and tourism
The entire river valley is a natural route for both roads and railways connecting eastern, central and western Serbia, so traffic is also important for the economy of the region. Tourism is almost entirely based on mineral spas, as the West Morava Valley is dubbed "First spa region of Serbia". Best known spas include Vrnjačka Banja, Mataruška Banja,
Bogutovačka Banja
Bogutovac ( sr-cyr, Богутовац) is a village and spa located in the municipality of Kraljevo, central Serbia. In the village there are mineral water springs. As of 2011 census, it has a population of 448 inhabitants.
Bogutovac is mention ...
, Ovčar Banja,
Vička Banja,
Gornja Trepča
Gornja Trepča ( sr-cyr, Горња Трепча) is a village and spa located in the municipality of Čačak, Serbia. As of 2011 census, the village has a population of 556 inhabitants. The Atomska Banja spa center is located in the village; it ha ...
, etc. Additional interests are the Goč mountain and medieval
Serbian Orthodox
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The majority of the population in ...
monasteries of Žiča,
Kalenić,
Lazarica,
Ljubostinja
The Ljubostinja Monastery ( sr, / , ) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery near Trstenik, Serbia. Located in the small mountain valley of the Ljubostinja river, the monastery is dedicated to the Holy Virgin.
History
The monastery was built from ...
,
Naupara
Naupara monastery is a Serbian Orthodox Christian monastery situated 30 km south of the town of Kruševac and about 190 km from Belgrade. The original building was completed in 1391 but was severely destroyed by Turks in 1454. It was not ...
, etc. One of top mountain resorts of Serbia,
Tara and
Zlatibor
Zlatibor ( sr-cyr, Златибoр ) is a mountainous region situated in the western part of Serbia.
Among the most popular places in Serbia for tourism, Zlatibor's main attractions include health tourism, skiing, and hiking and the longest p ...
, are marking the eastern border of the region.
The South Morava Valley
Location
The South Morava Valley ( sr, Јужно Поморавље / ''Južno Pomoravlje'') is the
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...
of the
South Morava
The South Morava ( Macedonian and Serbian: Јужна Морава, ''Južna Morava'', ; sq, Lumi Morava) is a river in eastern Kosovo and in southern Serbia, which represents the shorter headwater of Great Morava. Today, it is 295 km lon ...
. It is the southernmost region of Serbia, bordering
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
. It is meridionally elongated, in the south-to-north direction. In the narrower sense, as a valley of the South Morava, it occupies an area of 4,800 km
2, of which 1,660 km
2 on Kosovo and the rest in Central Serbia. In wider sense, the South Morava Valley is identified with southern Serbia in general and covers the entire watershed of the South Morava (15,469 km
2).
Geography
* Končulj Gorge (''Končuljska klisura'') – gorge in the original section of South Morava, while it is still being called Binačka Morava. It connects sub-regions of
Izmornik on Kosovo and
Bujanovac
Bujanovac ( sr-cyr, Бујановац, ; sq, Bujanoc) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. Situated in the South Morava basin, it is located in the geographical area known as Preševo Valley. It is also ...
section of the Vranje depression. Gorge is 11 kilometers long, cut by Morava in the
gneiss
Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...
-
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
rocks of the northernmost extension of the
Skopska Crna Gora
tr, Karadağ, italics=no
, photo = Skopska Crna Gora-MKD.JPG
, photo_caption =
, photo_size = 250
, highest = Ramno
, elevation_m = 1651
, elevation_ref =
, prominence_m =
, prominence_ref =
, listing =
, location = North Macedonia ...
mountain. It was named after the village of Končulj and forms a natural route for the Vranje-Bujanovac-
Gnjilane
Gjilan, or Gnjilane ( sr-cyr, Гњилане) is the eighth largest city in Kosovo and seat of Gjilan Municipality and Gjilan District.
Name
Ottoman chronicler Evliya Çelebi mentions ''Morava'' as a settlement of the Sanjak of Vučitrn. ...
road.
* Vranje Depression (''Vranjska kotlina'') – larger widening of the valley mainly bordered by the mountains of Skopska Crna Gora on the south-west,
Rujen on the south,
Sveti Ilija on the west,
Kukavica
Kukavica (Serbian Cyrillic: Кукавица) is a mountain in southern Serbia, near the town of Vladičin Han
Vladičin Han ( sr-cyrl, Владичин Хан, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. As o ...
on the north and
Besna Kobila on the east. Center of the depression is the town of
Vranje
Vranje ( sr-Cyrl, Врање, ) is a city in Southern Serbia and the administrative center of the Pčinja District. The municipality of Vranje has a population of 83,524 and its urban area has 60,485 inhabitants.
Vranje is the economical, polit ...
and other settlements include
Vranjska Banja
The City municipality of Vranjska Banja ( sr-cyrl, Градска општина Врањска Бања, Gradska opština Vranjska Banja) is a town and one of two city municipalities which constitute the City of Vranje. It is also one of the spa ...
,
Veliki Trnovac
Veliki Trnovac (, ) is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village had a population of 6,762. Of these, 6,730 (99,52%) were ethnic Albanians, 1 (0,01%) Bulgarian, 1 (0,01%) Bosniak, and 12 (0,17% ...
,
Bujanovac
Bujanovac ( sr-cyr, Бујановац, ; sq, Bujanoc) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. Situated in the South Morava basin, it is located in the geographical area known as Preševo Valley. It is also ...
and
Preševo
Preševo ( sr-cyrl, Прешево; sq, Preshevë, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. It is the southernmost town in Central Serbia and largest in the geographical region of Preševo Valley.
Preševo ...
. Sometimes called Vranje-Preševo depression, with northern section mostly corresponds to the sub-region of
Inogošte, while southern, through the ''Preševska povija'' ridge extends to the south into the region of
Žegligovo and
Pčinja valley in North Macedonia.
* Grdelica Gorge (''Grdelička klisura'') – one of the most famous gorges in Serbia, a valley narrow which is 33 kilometers long (48 by the river course) and up to 550 meters deep. Gorge is carved between the mountains of Kukavica on the west and
Čemernik
Čemernik (Serbian Cyrillic: Чемерник) is a mountain in southeastern Serbia, near the town of Surdulica. Its highest peak ''Vrlo osoje'' has an elevation of above sea level. It is one of mountains that surround the Vlasina plateau and the ...
on the east. The highest point above the gorge is
orographic
Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discipl ...
(
geomorphological
Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...
) water divide of the
Pannonian
Pannonia may refer to:
In geography:
* Basin of Pannonia, a geomorphological region (plain) in Central Europe
* Sea of Pannonia, an ancient (former) sea in Central Europe
* Steppe of Pannonia, a grassland ecosystem in the Pannonian Plain
In h ...
and
Aegean basins, which doesn't correspond with
hydrological
Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...
divide of the South Morava watershed (which spread south of it, too). Due to the
deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...
, Grdelica gorge is an area of excessive
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...
, which is the main reason for the elevation of the river bed of the Great Morava downstream and flooding in the Great Morava Valley. In the gorge area, erosion as a result has floods, torrents,
inundation
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...
s, trenching, etc. Largest settlement,
Vladičin Han
Vladičin Han ( sr-cyrl, Владичин Хан, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. As of 2011, the population of the town is 8,030, while the population of the municipality is 20,871.
History
From 19 ...
is at the entrance, while
Grdelica
Grdelica () is a town in southern Serbia. It is situated in the Leskovac municipality, in the Jablanica District. The total population of the town was 3,194 people as of the 2011 census. For census purposes, Grdelica is divided into two adjacent ...
, after which the gorge is named, at the exit. Other settlements in the gorge include
Džep
Džep ( sr, Џеп) is a village in Serbia located in the municipality of Vladičin Han
Vladičin Han ( sr-cyrl, Владичин Хан, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. As of 2011, the population ...
and
Predejane.
* Leskovac Depression (''Leskovačka kotlina'') is a main section of the larger Leskovac field (''Leskovačko polje''), the largest
fluvial
In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluviog ...
-
tectonic
Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents k ...
depression in the valley. A 50 kilometers in
diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid for ...
, it was completed flooded by the lake in
Neogene
The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...
. Today it is a place where many important South Morava's tributaries flow in it:
Jablanica,
Veternica,
Vlasina
Vlasina is a mountainous region of southeastern Serbia. It is a border area to Bulgaria, a region of the Rhodopian Serbia, with old rocks and mountains. Its most prominent landforms are eponymous Vlasina River and Vlasina Lake. It corresponds t ...
, etc. The area is one of the best known vegetable growing regions in Serbia, especially for tomatoes and
bell pepper
The bell pepper (also known as paprika, sweet pepper, pepper, or capsicum ) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange ...
s. It encompasses several sub-regions (Jablanica, Vlasina) and due to its size, it is bordered by almost a dozen of mountains. It roughly corresponds to the region of
Dubočica
Leskovac (Serbian Cyrillic: Лесковац, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Jablanica District in southern Serbia. According to the 2022 census, City of Leskovac has a 124,889 inhabitants.
Etymology
Leskovac was historically ...
. Largest settlement is the town of
Leskovac
Leskovac (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Лесковац, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Jablanica District in Southern Serbia (Geographical Region), southern Serbia. According to the 202 ...
, fourth largest town in Central Serbia. Other settlements include
Vlasotince
Vlasotince ( sr-cyr, Власотинце) is a town and municipality located in Jablanica District
The Jablanica District ( sr, Јабланички округ, Jablanički okrug, ) is one of nine administrative districts of Southern and East ...
and
Vučje.
* Pečenjevce
Defile (''Pečenjevačka sutjeska'') – small gorge which connects Leskovac field and Brestovac micro-depression, carved through the western slopes of the
Babička Gora mountain.
* Brestovac Micro-depression (''Brestovačka kotlinica'') – actually, the northernmost extension of the Leskovac field. It is located between the mountains of Babička Gora and
Seličevica on the east, and
Pasjača on the west. In the west it extends into the regions of
Toplica and
Pusta reka. Remains of the medieval town ruins of "Kurvin Grad" are located above the depression.
* Niš-Aleksinac Depression (''Niško-aleksinačka kotlina'') – most populous section of the valley, thanks to the city
Niš
Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...
, second largest town in
Central Serbia
Central Serbia ( sr, централна Србија / centralna Srbija), also referred to as Serbia proper ( sr, link=no, ужа Србија / uža Srbija), is the region of Serbia lying outside the autonomous province of Vojvodina to the nort ...
, or popularly styled "metropolis of southern Serbia". Depression roughly begins at the village of
Malošište
Malošište is a village situated in Doljevac municipality in Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeast ...
and ends at historical settlement of
Đunis. Long and elongated, its borders are marked by the mountains of Seličevica on the south-east,
Ozren on the east,
Bukovik on the north-east,
Veliki Jastrebac
Jastrebac (Serbian Cyrillic: Јастребац) is a mountain in central Serbia, between cities of Niš, Kruševac and Prokuplje. It consists of two massifs, Great (''Veliki'') and Small (''Mali'') Jastrebac. Its highest peak ''Velika Đulica'' ...
and
Mali Jastrebac on the west and Pasjača on the south-west. Apart from Niš, other important settlements in the depression include the string of Niš' suburbs and the town of
Aleksinac
Aleksinac ( sr-Cyrl, Алексинац) is a town and municipality located in the Nišava District of southern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the town has a population of 17,978 inhabitants, while the municipality has 51,863 inhabitants.
His ...
. Sometimes considered a two separate depressions, Niš and Aleksinac.
* Stalać Gorge (''Stalaćka klisura'') – the final narrow of the South Morava Valley before it meets the West Morava to form the Great Morava. The gorge is 20 kilometers long and 350 meters deep, carved in the form of the typical base epigyny (cut through the middle of the massif's base), with "pitched"
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...
s among the Stalać Hills (Poslonjska and Mojsinjska mountains), part of the extreme north-west section of the
Rhodope Mountains
The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...
. Named after the small town of
Stalać at the exit of the gorge.
Sub-regions
Sub-regions which partially make up the South Morava Valley include:
Population
The South Morava Valley had a population of 680,176 inhabitants by the official 2018 estimate by the State Statistical Office, with an average population density of 217 inhabitants per square kilometer, but the area's density is in general smaller, average density being enlarged by the large centers like the city of Niš (430 per km
2) and Leskovac. The South Morava Valley has been known for rural depopulation and stagnation almost for the last five decades while the cities grew larger. The population of the Morava Valley by the official censuses of population and latest estimates (including the valley in narrower sense: municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac, Vladičin Han, Vlasotince, Doljevac, Merošina, Gadžin Han, Aleksinac and Ražanj, and cities of Vranje, Leskovac and Niš):
* 1948 – 540,864
* 1953 – 577,081
* 1961 – 624,225
* 1971 – 691,293
* 1981 – 753,336
* 1991 – 771,545
* 2002 – 732,185
* 2011 – 716,688
* 2018 – 680,176 (official estimate)
The largest settlements of the South Morava Valley (2011 census; * denotes 2002 data):
Economy
Agriculture
The South Morava Valley is fertile and thus is the major fruit and vegetable growing area in Serbia, especially the areas of Vranje, which is specialized in the production of peppers, and Leskovac, important tomato producing region, but other early vegetables as well. Vranje is also known for
floriculture
Floriculture, or flower farming, is a branch of horticulture concerned with the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and for floristry, comprising the floral industry. The development of new varieties by plant breeding is ...
. The area is also producing grains (corn in Vranje and Leskovac, wheat in Leskovac and Aleksinac- Niš region),
fig
The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...
s, fruits (cherries in Vranje,
grapes
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago ...
in Leskovac) and industrial plants (sugar beet in Aleksinac- Niš, tobacco in Aleksinac- Niš, Vranje and Leskovac). Leskovac is also known for the
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
and
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
.
Walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
s and
almond
The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...
s are produced as well. Region is also known for producing
melon
A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...
s and
watermelon
Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieti ...
s. Textile industry is developed, because the region produces much
linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
. Sunflower seeds provide
vegetable oil
Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fat ...
. Water from South Morava is also used for the irrigation, due to parts of the region being
semi-arid
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
.
Mining and industry
The mountains surrounding the region are rich in minerals and ores. The mountain of Besna Kobila has findings of
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
,
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
and
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
. Other findings include
chromium
Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal.
Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...
,
antimony
Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient time ...
,
graphite
Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on large ...
,
lithium
Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...
and
tungsten
Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isolat ...
.
Oil shale
Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitute ...
s are found near Leskovac and Aleksinac. Aleksinac is also part of a large Aleksinac coal basin, while
lignite
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 ...
is abundant in the area. Though South Morava has a significant potential for electricity production, it has not been dammed, though some parts of its watershed on the east (Vlasina, Vrla) have a series of hydro electrical plants (Vrla I, II, III and IV). Area is rich in mineral springs with many spas: Vranjska Banja, Bujanovčaka Banja, Ribarska Banja, Kulinska Banja, Klokot Banja, etc. There are several large industrial centers in the region, some of the largest in Serbia (Niš, Leskovac, Vranje). Secondary centers are Aleksinac, Vlasotince and Preševo.
Transportation
Along with the Great Morava Valley, its natural continuation, the South Morava Valley is an important European transportation route and Niš is a major crossroads. It makes a section of the Belgrade-
Skopje
Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre.
The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...
-
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
route, that is, of the
European route E75
European route E 75 is part of the International E-road network, which is a series of main roads in Europe.
The E 75 starts at the town of Vardø in Norway by the Barents Sea and it runs south through Finland, Poland, Czech Republic, S ...
(which connects
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
), with a branch splitting at Niš for
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
, which is actually a crossroads of the routes E75 and
E80 which connects
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. Since 2019, route has been turned into a highway. The South Morava Valley is also a railway crossroads: railway Belgrade-Niš-Skopje, trans-Balkan railway
Peć
Peja (Definiteness, Indefinite Albanian language, Albanian Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Pejë'' ) or Peć ( sr-Cyrl, Пећ ) is the fourth largest List of cities and towns in Kosovo, city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipali ...
-
Prahovo
Prahovo is a village on the river Danube in the municipality of Negotin, Serbia with a population of 1506 people at the 2002 census. The battle of Prahovo took place in 1810 near the village during the First Serbian Uprising (1804-1813).
Nearby s ...
, etc.
The Great Morava Valley
Location
The Great Morava Valley ( sr, Велико Поморавље / ''Veliko Pomoravlje'') is the
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...
of the
Great 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 is often referred to only as the Morava Valley ( sr, Поморавље / ''Pomoravlje'';
Pomoravlje District
The Pomoravlje District ( sr, / , ) is one of eight administrative districts of Šumadija and Western Serbia. It expands to the central parts of Serbia. According to the 2011 census results, it has a population of 214,536 inhabitants. The adm ...
is located in the southern area of the Great Morava Valley). At the beginning, it is bounded by the mountains of
Juhor on the west 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 east. In the later section, the Morava Valley gets much wider, with only smaller hills bounding it and opens widely to the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
and
Banat
Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...
region, across the river. It covers an area of 4,360 square milometers, which is over 70% of the entire Great Morava watershed.
Geography
The Great Morava Valley is a valley region of the middle, Peripannonic Serbia. In the Neogene, it was a deep bay ("Morava Bay") of the inner
Pannonian Sea
The Pannonian Sea was a shallow ancient lake, where the Pannonian Basin in Central Europe is now. The Pannonian Sea existed from about 10 Ma (million years ago) until 1 Ma, during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, when marine sediments were dep ...
, which flowed off through the
Đerdap
The Iron Gates ( ro, Porțile de Fier; sr, / or / ; Hungarian: ''Vaskapu-szoros'') is a gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (north). In the broad sense it encompasses a rout ...
gorge 600,000 years ago. As the sea withdrew, the Great Morava cut in its flow through the drained bay, almost for 500 meters. The region is 120 kilometers long and up to 40 kilometers wide. Altitudes vary from 75 meters on the north to 130 meters on the south. It has a tempered continental climate with not much rainfall but frequent floods. Composite valley of the Great Morava has three main sections.
* The Upper Great Morava or Ćuprija Depression (''Gornjovelikomoravska or Ćuprijska kotlina'') – southern half of the Great Morava Valley, located between the mountains of Juhor (east) and Kučaj (west). After the Neogene phase, in which the depression was the southernmost extension of the Pannonian Sea, the Great Morava cut through from the relative elevation of 350 meters ("Five Morava Plateaus"). It has three larger (
Paraćin
Paraćin ( sr-Cyrl, Параћин, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. It is located in the valley of the Velika Morava river, north of Kruševac and southeast of Kragujevac. In 2011 the town had a p ...
,
Ćuprija
Ćuprija (Serbian Cyrillic: Ћуприја, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 19,380, while the municipality has 30,645 inhabitants.
History
The Romans founded the ...
and
Jagodina )
, image_shield = Jagodina-grb.png
, image_flag = FLAG Jagodina.png
, image_skyline =
, image_caption =
, image_map = File:Municipalities of Serbia Jagodina.png
, map_caption = Location of Jagodina w ...
) and two towns (
Varvarin
Varvarin ( sr-cyr, Варварин, ) is a town and municipality located in the Rasina District of central Serbia. Population of the town is 2,133, and population of the municipality is 17,772.
History
The town is notable as the site of an 1810 b ...
,
Ćićevac
Ćićevac ( sr-cyr, Ћићевац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Rasina District
The Rasina District ( sr, / , ) is one of eight administrative districts of Šumadija and Western Serbia. It expands to the central parts of Serb ...
), so as several large villages. In this section, the Great Morava receives the tributaries of Kalenićka Reka,
Lugomir
The Lugomir ( Serbian Cyrillic: Лугомир) is a river in central Serbia, a 57 km-long right tributary to the Velika Morava river. It flows through many villages including Majur.
Origin
The Lugomir originates from two headstreams, the D ...
, Belica (from the left),
Crnica and
Ravanica
The Ravanica Monastery ( sr, / ) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery on Kučaj mountains near Senje, a village in Ćuprija municipality in Central Serbia. It was built in 1375–1377 as an endowment of prince Lazar of Serbia, who is buried t ...
(from the right).
* The Bagrdan Gorge (''Bagrdanska klisura'') – wide gorge, epigynously cut in the nearby hills. It is 17 kilometers long and it is the final gorge of the entire Morava course. It was named after the village of
Bagrdan. River Osanica flows into the Great Morava from the left in the gorge. In the 1980s, the gorge was planned for the hydro electrical dam construction and creation of a reservoire.
* The Lower Great Morava or Požarevac Depression (''Donjovelikomoravska or Požarevačka kotlina'') – northern half, ending section of the entire Morava river system, where it finally empties into the Danube. Very wide and open to the north (
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 ...
), with two larger cities,
Smederevo
Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
According to ...
and
Požarevac
Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Braničevo District in eastern Serbia. It is located between three rivers: Danube, Great Morava and Mlava and below the hill Čačalica (208m). As of 2011, ...
.
Sub-regions
Regions, which partially or completely make the Great Morava Valley, include
Jasenica,
Lepenica,
Resava and
Temnić Temnić ( sr, Темнић) is an area of Šumadija, which extends between the Velika Morava, the mountain of Juhor and the Western Morava in Serbia. It is bounded by the east from the Great Morava
The Great Morava ( sr, Велика Мора ...
. Because the Great Morava and West Morava are considered the eastern and southern borders, respectively, of the super-region of
Šumadija
Šumadija (, sr-Cyrl, Шумадија) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The area used to be heavily covered with forests, hence the name (from ''šuma'' 'forest'). The city of Kragujevac is the administrative center of the ...
, they largely overlap with it in these areas.
Population
The South Morava Valley had a population of 545,517 inhabitants by the 2002 census of population, with an average population density of 125 inhabitants per square kilometer. Extremes include Smederevo, with 230 per km
2, and
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 ...
, with 41 per km
2. Despite being developed as an agricultural and industrial region, it has been depopulating for the last few decades. The population of the Morava Valley by the official censuses of population:
* 1948 – 495,903
* 1953 – 530,335
* 1961 – 565,584
* 1971 – 594,934
* 1981 – 632,984
![WWI BG MAP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/WWI_BG_MAP.jpg)
* 1991 – 586,033
* 2002 – 545,517
In the 1980s plans were made to join towns of Jagodina, Paraćin and Ćuprija into the first planned
conurbation
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...
in
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, including inter-city
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
way lines, etc., but the idea was dropped later. The largest settlements of the Great Morava Valley in 2002 were:
Economy
Agriculture
With very fertile arable land, almost endless gardens, orchards and vineyards and its intensive agriculture, the Great Morava Valley is the granary of Central Serbia. The Great Morava agricultural region covers much larger area than the Great Morava Valley or even the watershed of the Great Morava: regions of Mlava and
Pek on the east (
Braničevo District
The Braničevo District ( sr-cyr, Браничевски округ, Braničevski okrug, ; ro, Districtul Braničevo) is one of nine administrative districts of Southern and Eastern Serbia. It expands in the north-eastern parts of Serbia. Accordi ...
) and almost half of
Šumadija
Šumadija (, sr-Cyrl, Шумадија) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The area used to be heavily covered with forests, hence the name (from ''šuma'' 'forest'). The city of Kragujevac is the administrative center of the ...
, on the west. Main products in the valley are corn, wheat,
sugar beet
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...
and sunflower. Hilly areas surrounding the valley are producing fruits, grapes (Smederevo),
fodder
Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...
plants and livestock. Braničevo region has the largest production of
beans
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
in Serbia. Horse
stud farm
A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation o ...
Ljubičevo is located near Požarevac. In the past centuries the Great Morava Valley was famous for its vast forest, but today it is almost entirely turned into an arable land.
Mining and industry
Unlike the West Morava Valley and South Morava Valley, the Great Morava Valley has almost no ores or minerals, except for the
cement
A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...
marl
Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae.
Marl makes up the lower part o ...
near Paraćin. But the area has vast finding of coal, near Kostolac (Kostolac-Podunavlje Basin;
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 ...
), in the valley of
Resavica (Despotovac Basin; brown coal at Makvište and Resavica,
lignite
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 ...
at Despotovac) and near Ćuprija (Senje Basin; brown coal). Also, the Great Morava Valley has only a few mineral springs (Lućička Banja, Stragarska Banja, etc.). Major industrial centers are Jagodina, Smederevo, Smederevska Palanka and Ćuprija, followed by Paraćin, Požarevac and Velika Plana.
Thermal power plant
A thermal power station is a type of power station in which heat energy is converted to electrical energy. In a steam-generating cycle heat is used to boil water in a large pressure vessel to produce high-pressure steam, which drives a stea ...
"Morava" (125
MW) is located near Svilajnac. One of three Serbian cement plants is located in
Popovac (formerly "Novi Popovac", in 2002 bought by one of the
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
cement company
Holcim
Holcim is a Swiss-based global building materials and aggregates flagship division of the Holcim Group. The original company was merged on 10 July 2015 with Lafarge to form LafargeHolcim as the new company and renamed to Holcim Group in 2021 ...
).
Transportation
The Great Morava Valley was always an important traffic route. In
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
times, it was the location of
Via Militaris
Via Militaris or Via Diagonalis was an ancient Roman road, starting from Singidunum (today the Serbian capital Belgrade), passing by Danube coast to Viminacium (modern Požarevac), through Naissus (modern Niš), Serdica (modern Sofia), Philippopo ...
, while in the medieval period
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
road ran through. Today, it makes a section of the European route E75 (Belgrade-Niš highway) which continues into the South Morava Valley. It also a route for the Belgrade-Niš railway. In past times, the Great Morava used to be navigable, but due to the huge amounts of materials which are brought by the South Morava, as a result of extreme erosion in its watershed, the river bed of the Great Morava is literally being covered up so the river is not navigable today. Only some 3 kilometers near its mouth into the Danube can be used for navigation.
See also
*
Great 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 ...
*
Kosovo Pomoravlje
Anamorava ( sq, Anamoravë) or Kosovo Pomoravlje ( sr, Косовско Поморавље / ''Kosovsko Pomoravlje'', " Pomoravlje of Kosovo"), is a valley in the Republic of Kosovo, in the southern part of the District of Gjilan surrounding the ...
*
List of regions of Serbia
The regions of Serbia include geographical and, to a lesser extent, traditional and historical areas. Geographical regions have no official status, though some of them serve as a basis for the second-level administrative divisions of Serbia, ''okr ...
*
Morava Banovina
The Morava Banovina or Morava Banate ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Моравска бановина, Moravska banovina), was a province ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. This province consisted of parts of prese ...
*
Pomoravlje District
The Pomoravlje District ( sr, / , ) is one of eight administrative districts of Šumadija and Western Serbia. It expands to the central parts of Serbia. According to the 2011 census results, it has a population of 214,536 inhabitants. The adm ...
*
South Morava
The South Morava ( Macedonian and Serbian: Јужна Морава, ''Južna Morava'', ; sq, Lumi Morava) is a river in eastern Kosovo and in southern Serbia, which represents the shorter headwater of Great Morava. Today, it is 295 km lon ...
*
West Morava
West Morava ( sr, Западна Морава, Zapadna Morava, ) is a river in Central Serbia, a 184 km-long headstream of the Great Morava, which it forms with the South Morava. It was known as Brongus in antiquity.
Origin
The West Morav ...
References
Sources
* ''Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija'', Third edition (1986); Prosveta;
* Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): ''Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije''; Svjetlost-Sarajevo;
* ''Enciklopedija Britanika – sažeto izdanje'', Vol. 7 (2005); Narodna knjiga;
* Republički zavod za statistiku, ''Uporedni pregled broja stanovnika 1948, 1953, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 i 2002 – podaci po naseljima'', Beograd 2004,
* ''Atlas Srbije'' (2007); MONDE NEUF;
* ''Auto atlas Srbije'' (2006); Intersistem kartografija;
* ''Auto atlas Jugoslavije'', Eleventh edition (1979); Jugoslavenski leksikografski zavod
{{Coord missing, Serbia
Geographical regions of Serbia
Geography of Southern and Eastern Serbia
Geography of Šumadija and Western Serbia