Kamena Gora

In Serbia, a predominantly mountainous country, as a part of the StariVlah – Raška mountain range, there is the ancient mountain Kamena Gora (Eng. Stone Mountain). It was named after the landscape consisting of a forest on a rocky mountain, i.e. “Forest on the Stone”. This mountain is located in the area between the rivers Drina and Ibar, around the rivers Lim, Uvac and Moravica, and in the area of the river basins of Raška and Studenica. The highest peak of Kamena Gora is Ravna Gora, which reaches to 1496 m of the altitude and the state border stretches across it.

There is a folk saying that says that this place is full of spirituality and peace that comes from its flora and fauna, its native people, as well as from the rocks that proudly defy time carving their way through pastures and meadows. Within the rich natural resources of Kamena Gora, a 125 sources of drinking water have been registered, and it is curios that there are even 90 sources that never dry up.

“Kamenogorski Kovčeg” is one of its natural wonders. It is a rock that belongs to limestone massif and it looks like a chest. The tourists like to visit Kovčeg (Eng. Chest) and listen to the stories of the local people about this place. The combination of the so called wind rose, where the winds meet at Kamena Gora, meaning the place where the air is clean and healthy, and also cold and clean mountain water and unpolluted land are a great combination for ecological cattle and plant breeding. This is the place where the living conditions are harsh, with severe and variable climate,which requires that people feed in a way to be healthy, strong and advanced, and the surrounding nature is abundant with such food. These are great preconditions for the development of the rural tourism, which has been developing increasingly in this area. A wide selection of food and imaginative hosts who prepare excellent specialties, which they serve generously at their tables, and such images make tourists feel idyllic, enjoying just like old times.

Kamena Gora offers many activities for adventurers like camping, cycling, hiking, mountain climbing, rafting on the river Lim, paragliding, fishing, sailing… Cycling, hiking, walking, healthy food and exploring ethno motifs are the main characteristics of the rural tourism that is getting more and more popular in Serbia and on Kamena Gora. For nature lovers or those who prefer active vacations and a healthy lifestyle, the best way to get to know this piece of world is to travel by bike.

The oldest inhabitant of Kamena Gora is an old pine, 13 m tall and with 18 m crown diameter, a trunk volume of almost 5.5 m and its age is estimated to be around 500 years. The black pine is the worshiped symbol of “the Stone Mountain” and it testifies to the longevity of “the village of the centenarians”. The people named this old pine, out of respect, the Sacred Pine. In the past, as there was no church in the vicinity, local people would gather under the Sacred Pine, take communion and organize religious service. Older people would often say as an oath: “I swear by the Pine”. Nothing was removed from the pine, not even a pinecone or even a broken twig, and the Sacred Pine is under the state protection as a natural monument of the first category.