Baždarska cave

With 617 m of explored tunnels, this cave ends in a lake which becomes a siphon and prevents further passage through the tunnel.

Located around 400 m from the entrance, on the left side, is a hydrologically active tunnel which brings water into the main tunnel.

A brook disappears into the earth in this cave, and the villagers have named it Rijeka. At the time of the year when the snow melts or there is heavy rainfall and much water enters the cave, it often becomes flooded.

Tubića cave

The entrance of the cave is located at an altitude of 1020 m, and its exit is a spring, adjacent to the very riverbed of the Uvac, at an altitude of 980 m.

The cave consists of several tunnels whose total length is 1929 m. The main tunnel is 798 m long and it occasionally transverses the brook of Maljevo which then disappears in the hydrologically stilu active lower layers.

Since the construction of the dam on the River Uvac, the exit of this cave is often flooded with the waters of the reservoir lake.

The cave abounds in decorations. It is among the speleological objects that are easier to visit and it could be interesting for tourist tours.

Both the young and the old go to the Teferič, where they meet with their relatives and friends, enjoying the singing and dancing. These occasions are particularly eagerly awaited by family members who live abroad, as this is an opportunity for them to see all their relatives and friends in one place.

A Teferič is also an occasion to ask a girl for her hand in marriage, or to arrange a marriage. Those who are more affluent, compete with each other in who will pay more for a dance in the wheel dance, which they request to be played for their daugh ters – in – law or sisters – in – law. It can happen that as much as 500 euros is paid for one wheel dance. Brides wear much gold jewelry, showing the wealth of the family into which they have been married. Unmarried girls do not wear gold jewelry.

At the Teferič, the most beautiful bride and the most beautiful girl are chosen. They are dressed in stylized folk costumes in red, white, green, orange, and pink colors.

Horse races are also organized on these occasions, stone – throwing, and competitive events in other traditional skills.

It is usually prepared with barley, com or wheat flour. It is prepared by melting a chunk of lard or butter in a pan, preferably a copper one, and adding the flour, and salt and water. The mixture is then cooked well, or rather, fried well.

Possible special extra ingredients could be cheese, soft cheese, cream, or even eggs.

Cicvara, a rather rich dish with a high fat content, was well suited for the periods when there was difficult farm work to be done. Serbs considered it a particularly rich dish, and they made it a regular part of their Christmas meals.

Once, it used to be the custom for the family to look for their reflections in the shiny and oily surface of the cicvara, and the belief was that the person who could not see their reflection would not live to see the next Christmas.

Its size and shape make it a significant urban detail of the place.

Regarding its construction, it has all the characteristics of monumental architecture, with a dominant large  dome, around 15 m in diameter. This dome of fascinating size is built of wood, but was originally made from lead sheets.


The people have preserved a legend about how the mosque came to be built. Rebels and outlaws robbed caravans carrying Validáis goods, the legend says. When she recovered her goods and ducats after a longtime, she gave it all for the construction of a mosque in Sjenica, for her soul, where the people could pray to their god.

The average altitude is 1150 – 1200 m. According to the area it covers, it is one of the biggest municipalities in Serbia. In its 1059 km there are a hundred and one places with a total population of 27, 250 inhabitants.

Sjenica is characterized by a specific type of continental climate with expressed temperature differences in the course of the year, with extremely cold and long winters. The Meteorological Station Sjenica recorded the lowest airtemperature of – 36°C on January 26, 1954.

Sjenica is situated on the transversing road Raška – Novi Pazar – Sjenica – Nova Varoš which connects the Ibar Highway with the Zlatibor Highway, and the town consequently has good traffic links with Prijepolje, Novi Pazar, Ivanjica, and Nova Varoš.

A BRIEF HISTORICAL SURVEY

Sjenica is an old settlement, which was mentioned for the first time in the year 1253 as a place on the road to Dubrovnik, where the merchants of Dubrovnik made stops and paid taxes.
On the grounds of investigations caried out so far, it has been established that the area of Sjenica was populated 3000 years ago by the Dardanians, and that they are the oldest known population of this region. They were in turn pushed out by the Autariats, an llyrian tribe that remained settlers in the region of Sjenica until the arrival of the Romans in the 3rd century.

At the beginning of the 7th century, the Slav tribe of Serbs, who were first metioned in a written document in the year 822, settled in the area of Raška, and thus also in the region of Sejnica. One of the first Serb tribal alliances was formed here, from which the medieval Serb state of Raška was constituted by the Nemanjić dynasty in the 12th century. The Nemanjić rulers occasionally stayed in certain places, there to sign charters on trade with Dubrovnik, and Duga poljana, Vrsenice, Sjenica, Caričina, are mintioned in that context. The Nemanjić rulers also had summer residences in the region of Sjenica, in Sjenica itself, in Vrsenica, Duga poljana, Gradac, and Carlčlna.

The region of Sjenica fell under Otoman Turkish rule in the year 1455, and became an integral part of Krajište Isabega Ishakovića, a region managed by Isa – Bey Ishaković, a Herzegovinian who converted to Islam and is known as the founder of Novi Pazar and Sarajevo. Sjenica is mentioned as a caravan stop on the road to Dubrovnik throughout the 16th, 17th, and 18″ centuries. During the Ottoman rule, Sjenica was a fortified town. The Turks erected a fortification they called Grad on a hill, but it was later torn down. Near the fort, there was a town with shops and houses made of logs and wooden planks.

There was a lively trade with Dubrovnik here up until the occupation of Bosnia. After the end of the 17u,century, when the Ottoman Empire began its decline, beign an important strategic place, Sjenica remained a fortified town, and it is mentioned as such by residents of Dubrovnik and byAustrians alike.

In the great Austrian – Turkish war ( 1683 – 1699 ) , the Turks were pushed deep into Macedonia, and many towns in this region were burned to the ground. Such a fate befell Sjenica as well. In the early 18th century, the tribes of Klimenti, Škrijelji, Hoti, Gega, and Šalje settled in the region of the Sjenica plateau. The Malisora who settled on Pešter were Catholics, but they converted to Islam over the subsequent years. In parallel with the settlement of the Malisora, the Montenergins also came to Pešter.

At the very beginning of the 19th century, the region of Sjenica assumed a more important political role, since Serbia maintained links with Montenegro and the Adriatic Sea through this region. As an important strategic area, it is attacked by Karadjordje in 1809, and one of the fiercest battles of the First Serbian Uprising took place precise here, in Sjenica, Javor and Suvi dol. The rebels seized Sjenica, which was handed over to Karadjordje by Hadžibeg Čavić.
After Karadjordje withdrew from these lands, the Serb population also began to pull out in large numbers, and they were replaced by settlers from Montenegro. So much of the Sjenica population moved to Serbia in the 19th century that practically none of the former residents remained.

Migrations of the Sjenica population were very expressed in the 19th and 20th centuries. Until the year 1912, Sjenica was within the Ottoman state and presented the seat of a Pashadom. The deterioration of the situation is largely a result of the decline of the economy and transit on the old roads which been the lifeline of this region. The extremely difficult economic position led to an uprising in 1903, Raonička buna, which was the final sign that the situation was untenable and that something must be done to change things.

The Serbian army liberated Sjenica in 1912. The general lack of security in these parts was further enhanced by the Austro Hungarian occupation during World War I. Such conditions, added to the previous constant migrations of the population in  these land, resulted in massive migrations to Turkey as well, which continued until World War II, which in turn brought new troubles to the residents of this area.

Throughout centuries, Sjenica has been an area of migrations and it has remained as such to the present day. Its history is mostly a history of migrations.

And at present this traditional pie is frequently served as a kind of speciality both in restaurants and households.

The time of its construction and its founder are still unknown.

According to the architecture and the people’ s tales it is supposed the church was founded in between the 18 – 19th century.

The preserved remains of stonewalls are protected by local residents and they rally there on the village holiday – The Holy Trinity.

At the beginning of the 14th century Bistrica monastery was added to the holdings of the Sts. Peter and Paul Church as an appendage and later on it was granted to  the Chilandar Monastery.

Like many other churches and monasteries the church was in ruins for ages and then restored in the 19th century.

It is a single – nave church covered with a two – pitched shingle roof. According to certain data, the people of this monastery people knew the beer making technology way back in the 18th century.

The church is located in Bistrica, 1km farfrom the highway Prijepolje – Nova Varoš.

It is an area of 584,41 square km. It is a town of 10, 335 inhabitants.

The road Belgrade – Montenegrinan Adriatic coast passes through Nova Varoš. There are asphalt roads linking Nova Varoš with neighbouring municipalities: Prijepolje, Priboj, Sjenica, Arilje, Čajetina and Užice.

A BRIEF HISTORICAL SURVEY

In the prehistoric times Autariats, Skordiscs and Thracian tribes used to live in this region. During Octavjin Augustus’ s reign, the region of Nova Varoš fell under power of the Roman Empire when the process of Romanization, which was never completely carried out, started.

In the later period this district belonged to Byzantium, after that to the Serbian medieval state of Raška. Before the founding of Serbian autocephalous church the district of Nova Varoš, from the aspect of the church point of view, was within the jurisdiction of the Raška diocese with a seat in Saints Peter and Paul’ s Church near today’ s town of Novi Pazar. Medieval data on Nova Varoš region are fragmentary and there are only a few known facts. However, it has to be emphasized that medieval caravans were passing through Nova Varoš district and the remains of several fortresses with signs indicating that they originate from the Middle Ages have been preserved till the present. These fortresses are Klak in Rutoshi, Oshtrik in the village of Chelice, Ostrvica on the Kitonja hill and Sokolac in Akmachici.

When powerful Turkish troops conquered the districts of Brankovici in 1455, this territory fell into Turkish power too. Nova Varoš i.e. Varoš of Iskender Pasha was for the first time mentioned in a real estate registry dating from 1516. Under the name Nova Varoš it was mentioned in 1528/30. In the same year it also appeared under the names of Selce and Iskender Pasha’ s town. These names also appeared later on throughout the 16th and 17th century. Nova Varoš has been founded by Bosnian Sandzak – bey Iskender ( Skender ). Since it was not mentioned in the 1489 Cadastre, land register, of Bosnian Sandzak, it was probably founded between 1490 and 1505. Thanks to the Turkish kanun – nami, a document from 1516, we know that the reason for the foundating of Nova Varoš was due to the roads in that district. There were soldiers who settled here to provide protection and provide compensation, within their jurisdiction, for those who got killed or suffered the loss of their property.

All through the 16th century the Christian population was prevalent in Nova Varoš up to the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century when due to Islamization the religious structure significantly changed in favor of the Muslims behalf but only ” within the bazaar of Nova Varoš “.

Since 1804 and the beginning of the First Serbian Uprising, inhabitants of this region survived one more century with numerous difficult battles, victories and defeats until November 1912 when, finally through the Balkan wars, they were liberated from Turkish power. The famous Raonica Rebellion that was considerably intensified in the region of Nova Varoš from 1903 to 1905, brought eminent leaders such as Petronije Mandic from Radojina, Novak Boricic from Stitkovo and Damjan Saponjic from Sipovik. After the period of Turkish rule Nova Varoš became a part of the Kingdom of Serbia.

Destructions caused during the First and Second World War resulted in numerous consequences for this region. Until the middle of the 20th century the population of Nova Varoš was mainly occupied with agriculture, handicrafts and rarely trade. At that time the first industrial enterprises started to work and contribute to the development of this region.

Today these enormous areas of forest with their flora and potentials for wood processing are of great potential and importance.
Picturesque hillsides of Zlatibor, Zlatar and other mountains in the vicinity of Nova Varoš are recognizable fortheir aromatic and medicinal herbs, forest fruits and wild animals while its distance from all pollution sources makes this area an interesting and attractive place.