Pomoravlje District: Morava Valley, Nature and Cultural Heritage

A motorway and the Belgrade–Niš–Skopje and Sofia railway lines run through the Morava Valley. In the wider Pomoravlje region, baking dishes known as „Ražanske crepulje“ are made in three sizes, with or without a central opening. Bread and pogača are baked in forms with an opening, while various dishes are prepared in forms without one.

Vinatovača is a nature reserve with primeval beech forest and has held the status of a natural asset of exceptional importance since 1957. Resavska Cave is the only cave in Serbia with visible red breccias. The Grza excursion area includes two artificial lakes and the 385-meter-long cave at Vrelo Grze. The Vrelo Grze natural monument in the municipality of Paraćin is designated as a Category III protected area. A hiking trail begins in the Vrelo Grze area, leading toward the 927-meter-high Javorak peak and other peaks in this section of the Southern Kučaj Mountains.

In Senjski Rudnik, the industrial heritage complex comprises four buildings and a machinery park; the complex and the steam engine are protected as cultural monuments of major importance to the Republic of Serbia. The Coal Mining Museum in Senjski Rudnik presents objects and the history of Senjski Rudnik, as well as other underground coal mines from antiquity to the present day. In Ćuprija, the Roman city of Horreum Margi was founded at the confluence of the Ravanica and Velika Morava rivers at the beginning of the 2nd century. The northeast tower of the Horreum Margi fortress is located in the center of Ćuprija within the “Horreum Margi – Ravno” Museum.

The famous Resava School of manuscript copying operated in Manasija, where church books were transcribed. The frescoes of Manasija include monumental depictions of the monastery founder and holy warriors in the style of the Morava School. Namasija is a former Orthodox monastery from the Middle Ages; its remains lie in the gorge of the Crnica River near the village of Zabrege, northeast of Paraćin. The ruins of Namasija are protected by the Republic of Serbia as a cultural monument of major importance and belong to the protected Petruška oblast monument zone. Ravanica is a foundation of Prince Lazar from the 14th century, with five distinctive domes and geometric and floral relief decorations. The traditional literary event „Matićevi dani“ is dedicated to the Serbian writer, Surrealist, essayist, academician and diplomat Dušan Matić (1898–1980) and takes place in his hometown of Ćuprija.

The Natural History Center in Svilajnac offers nine permanent exhibitions on the formation of the Earth, dinosaurs, the evolution of hominids, African animals and Serbia’s biological diversity. The center includes a dinosaur park with a walk-through volcano. In Jagodina, the Wax Museum has 34 exhibits from history, religion, politics, science, culture and sports. The Museum of Naive and Marginal Art is considered the only museum of its kind in the Balkans.

Other local destinations for orientation: Jagodina, Strmosten, Svilajnac, Izvor, Dvorište, Municipality of Ćuprija, Despotovac, Dobroselica, Paraćin.

For the higher-level travel overview: Central Serbia.