Kaluđerski Skokovi ( sr, Калуђерски Скокови) is the highest waterfall in Serbia. It is located on the

Stara Planina The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border betw ...

mountain in southeast Serbia. Only discovered in 2012, it is high, which is over twice more than the

Kopren Waterfall Kopren Waterfall ( sr, Копренски водопад, Koprenski vodopad) is the second highest waterfall in Serbia. It is located on Stara Planina mountain in southeast Serbia and high. Between 16 June 2011, when it was measured, and 9 June 2 ...

, previously the highest waterfall in Serbia, which itself was discovered only a year earlier.

Location

The Kaluđerski Skokovi falls are situated in the area of the Topli Do village, northeast of the city of

Pirot Pirot ( sr-cyr, Пирот) is a city and the administrative center of the Pirot District in southeastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the urban area of the city has a population of 38,785, while the population of the city administrative area ...

, to which it administratively belongs. The waterfall is located just southwest of the

Midžor Midžor ( sr-cyr, Миџор, ) or Midzhur ( bg, Миджур, ) is a peak in the Balkan Mountains, situated on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. At , it is the highest peak of the Western Balkan Mountains, as well as the highest of Serbia o ...

peak on the Stara Planina mountain, close to the border with

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 ...

Characteristics

The waterfall is located on the river of ''Kaluđerska reka'', which flows into the ''Rakitska reka'', which in turn forms the Toplodolska reka with the ''Javorska reka''. The waterfall is high, long and is a typical

cascade 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 ...

. On average, the inclination of the falls is 55 to 60 degrees, but some sections are almost straight, up to 90 degrees. It has over 20 cascades. The Midžor itself is high, and the waterfall starts at an altitude of and ends at .

Accessibility

The waterfall is hard to access. It is possible to reach it only in the early spring, while the region is still under snow, and with the full

rock-climbing equipment A wide range of equipment is used during rock or any other type of climbing that includes equipment commonly used to protect a climber against the consequences of a fall. Rope, cord and webbing Climbing ropes are typically of kernmantle c ...

. During summer, the already steep rocks grow into the thick, lush vegetation. Due to the

topographic relief Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin word ...

, Kaluđerski Skokovi in full can only be observed from the air.

History

Dragovan Stojadinović, amateur explorer who discovered some of the highest waterfalls in Serbia, discovered the Kaluđerski skokovi in 2012. On 9 June 2012 professors from the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...

's Faculty of mining and geology and the Institute for nature conservation of Serbia measured the waterfall. Developments in the recent two decades completely changed the geography of Serbia, when it comes to waterfalls. Area of the Stara Planina has always been sparsely populated and inaccessible because of the rugged and forested terrain, but also as a location of the Serbian-Bulgarian border. As armies gradually relinquished the borders keeping to the police, civilians were allowed to explore the area. As a result, higher and higher waterfalls have been discovered on the Serbian side of the Stara Planina since then: Čungulj in 1996 - ; Pilj in 2002 - ; Kopren in 2011 - Kopren (Stara planina)
/ref> and Kaluđerski Skokovi in 2012 - .

References

{{reflist Waterfalls of Serbia