The Vršac Mountains ( sr, Вршачке планине / ''Vršačke planine'', ro, Munții Vârșeț), also known as Vršac Hill ( sr, Вршачки брег / ''Vršački breg'', ro, Dealurile Vârșețului), are located in the

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 near the city of

Vršac Vršac ( sr-cyr, Вршац, ; hu, Versec; ro, Vârșeț) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2011, the city urban area had a pop ...

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 ...

and partially also in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. They represent an independent and distinct massif, 19 kilometers long and spreading on an area of 170 square kilometers, of which 122 belong to Serbia and 48 to Romania.

Geography

The Vršac mountains have a shape of an arch, where the basic mountain mass takes the central position, while the hills extend to the south and north. The mountains are built of

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

rocks (which date back over 260 million years) which are surrounded by Neogene sediments (about 60 mya), including those of the ancient Pannonian sea (about 25 mya). Contrary to some literature data, the Vršac Mountains are not part of the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The ...

but are a Pannonian island mountain according to their geotectonic position and geological structure. Specific forms of geomorphological diversity, naturally sculpted – made of

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 ...

and

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...

are represented in solitary or clustered hummocks.

Peaks

In respect to the appearance of the Vršac mountains, four distinct shapes are clearly visible: * The Tower of Vršac (Vršačka kula), 399 m *The Fox Head (Lisičija glava), with its three peaks: **The Gudurica peak (Gudurički vrh), the highest peak of Vojvodina, with its 641 m altitude **The Vršac Peak (Vršački vrh), 590 m **Lower Vršišor (Donji Vršišor), 463 m Between them there are vast rifts. Turska glava (402 m), Đakov vrh (449 m), and Kamenarica are also interesting places for climbers.

Fauna

Owing to the exceptional natural conditions, the Vršac mountains with 120 registered species of birds are one of the richest ornithological habitats in Vojvodina and the whole Serbia. It is necessary to mention some other representatives of the fauna, like grey and red fox, deer, wild boars and wolves that appear from time to time. Vršac Mountains have been classified since 1982 as a "landscape of outstanding features" in the national Registry of Protected Natural Resources.

Culture

The most important cultural monuments include The Tower of Vršac from the 15th century and Mesić monastery, which according to the documents from 18th century was built in the 15th century, while tradition claim that it was erected in 1225.

References

External links

The Vršac Mountains

Rare Birds Of Vršac Mountains
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vrsac Mountains Geography of Vojvodina Mountain ranges of Romania Banat Vršac Mountains of Serbia Pannonian island mountains