Kaçanik Gorge ( sq, Gryka e Kaçanikut, sr, Качаничка клисура, ''Kačanička klisura'') is a

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

located in southern

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

, stretching between the town of

Kaçanik Kaçanik ( sq-definite, Kaçaniku) or Kačanik ( sr-Cyrl, Качаник, ) is a town and municipality located in the Ferizaj District of southern Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Kaçanik has 15,634 inhabitants, while the munici ...

and the

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Ma ...

border, with the Lepenac river running through it. The Gorge splits the Šar Mountain range (Sharr) from the Skopska Crna Gora Mountain range (Karadak). During

Ottoman rule Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...

, the gorge saw fierce fighting, and inspired songs still used today.

Ravine

The ravine of Kaçanik, known as the "Drill" () refers to a perforated stone which sits at the entrance of the gorge. It was historically called "Marko's Stone", named after the Serbian

prince Marko Marko Mrnjavčević ( sr-cyr, Марко Мрњавчевић, ; – 17 May 1395) was the ''de jure'' Serbian king from 1371 to 1395, while he was the ''de facto'' ruler of territory in western Macedonia centered on the town of Prilep. He ...

, who tradition holds as having fought

Musa Kesedžija Musa Kesedžija, Musa Arbanas (Serbian and mk, Муса Кесеџија, bg, Муса Кеседжия), also described as Musa the Robber, Musa the Outlaw, Musa the Highwayman or Musa the Beheader, is a popular legendary villain of Serbian epi ...

at this place. A street traverses the gorge that comes from a short tunnel, which was removed after the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

. The tunnel was 15 meters long, about three meters wide and 2.5 meters high. At the entrance to the tunnel was a plaque that displayed the year of construction (1794) and the name of the Ottoman

Pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignita ...

References

Canyons and gorges of Kosovo Canyons and gorges of Serbia {{Kosovo-geo-stub