I left Uzice and headed off to explore the southwest corner of Serbia. I drove through some really amazing mountains on some really fun, twisty and turning roads. My tiny little booger car has turned out to be a fun ride. I also have to say that Serbia has turned out to be a lot prettier than I expected. This place is downright beautiful! For this portion of my trip, I chose Novi Pazar as my base. Serbia is somewhat famous for it’s monasteries and aside from Manasija a few days ago, most of the oldest and historically significant monasteries are in this part of the country. On my way to Novi Pazar, I first stopped at Maglic Fortress. Unfortunately, the bridge over the river was destroyed in a flood and has yet to be rebuilt leaving the fortress completely inaccessible. Bummer! I had to settle for a pic from the bank.

Also on the way, I stopped at the first of several monasteries, Studenica. Studenica was founded in the 12th century by Stefan Nemanja, who also founded the medieval Serb state. His grave is inside.

I was making such good time, it might have had something to do with Maglic being closed, but I had time for one more detour before reaching Novi Pazar. So, I made my way to Djurdjevi Stupovi on top of a hill overlooking Novi Pazar. Djurdjevi was also founded in the 12th century by Stefan Nemanja. Inside is the grave of a different Serbian king however, Stefan Dragutin. The friendly priest happened to be out working while I was there and he gave me a mini tour of the place. He apologized for his English, which was actually really good, then asked if I knew any Serbian. I told him I only knew how to say one thing in Serbian, “izvini, što ne govorim srpski”, which means, “sorry I don’t speak Serbian.” Haha That made him laugh, he got a kick out of that one. He did confirm that I’ve been pronouncing everything correctly though, so I got that going for me.

After Djurdjevi, I rolled down the hill into Novi Pazar and holy crap! This town is crowded! People everywhere, lots of traffic, narrow winding streets. This is not a fun city to drive in. But walking is another story. The downtown area is fun to stroll and there’s lots of cool restaurants. Perfect after a long day of driving all over the country looking at medieval monasteries. The next morning I started just outside the city limits at the Church of St Peter. This is the oldest church in Serbia. Built in the 9th century, but on top of 6th century foundations. It was locked up tight, so I couldn’t see the inside, but it’s a really interesting building with a very photogenic grave yard surrounding it.

Way down south, just a bit over a mile from the Kosovo border is 13th century Crna Reka. The only cave church in Serbia, built right into the side of a cliff. It’s also way up into a secluded canyon, which explains why it was used as a hiding spot during the Ottoman years.

Finally, I ended my monasterypalooza at Sopocani Monastery. This one was also founded by a Serbian king in the 13th century who is buried inside, Stefan Uros I. The frescoes in Sopocani are considered the best examples of medieval art in Serbia, but honestly, I was pretty enthralled with all of these places.

After getting my monastic, cultural, and medieval/Byzantine art fix, it was time for another hike. What should have been an easy hour drive, turned into a two hour argument with the GPS. It kept trying to make me drive down these rough gravel roads resulting in lots of u-turns and some choice words from me. I eventually made the trailhead though.

Welcome to the Uvac Nature Reserve. This hike was really exposed pretty much the whole way, not much shade at all. Luckily, it wasn’t a really long hike, just about five and a half miles round trip, but it was a very hot and sweaty endeavor. The beautiful terrain made up for it though.

Now for the reason I chose this hike. The Uvac River down at the bottom of this canyon created a really crazy path through the limestone canyon. It’s hard to believe this is naturally occurring, but it is, and I had to see it.

Supposedly, this is a refuge for griffon vultures too, but I didn’t see any, just these amazing views of the river. Maybe they’re smarter than me and know better than to come out and be super active in the hot midday sun… no that can’t be it. After, the hike I took the right way back to town minus the off roading and it only took 45 minutes.

Due to my really productive use of time here, I got ahead of myself and will be leaving Novi Pazar a day early. I’m not sure if I’ll need the day at my next stop or later in the trip, but I’ll take it. Tomorrow I head to the southeastern corner of Serbia and my last stop before crossing into the next country. Here’s a funny side note… Apparently, it’s the law here to drive with your lights on at all times, city, country, day, night, good weather, and bad. So guess who got pulled over and had to pay what amounted to about a $15 fine? Haha I think the citation I received makes a cool souvenir. Until the next post…