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 c ...

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 partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...

, stretching between the town of

Kaçanik Kaçanik ( sq-definite, Kaçaniku) or Kačanik ( sr-Cyrl, Качаник, ) is a List of cities in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Ferizaj, Ferizaj District of southern Kosovo. According to the 20 ...

and the Macedonian 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, 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 i ...

, who tradition holds as having fought Musa Kesedžija 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 w ...

. 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