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I stood in amazement as the warm rays of the fresh morning sun emerged from behind the 1,496-metre tall Tornik mountain peak and already clustering walkers strolled after breakfast on the other side, along the steep road leading towards the Palisad hill. For some unexplainable reason I remembered Vasko Popa’s verses – "Never will I cede this sun in the eyes, nor this bread in my hand", inscribed on the monument devoted to the defense of the homeland and triumph of the Partizans in World War II. The verses appeared affected to me; thrown up on top of the hill, wrested from between the covers of a collection of poems in which one of the greatest Serbian poets seems to have much more mystique – at least to me, a tourist drunk on sharp and clean air.
Although I had little time because I was to stay on Mt. Zlatibor for merely a day, I refrained from following the crowd. I remained for a few moments more in the same spot, at the foot of the ski run. Apparently, the restored and modernised Tornik Sports Centre ski lift has a capacity of up to 3,000 per hour; its overall length is 1,650 metres with a 374-metre altitude difference, that is at the disposal of skiers – mostly beginners and children – while at the foot of Mt. Murtenica a reserve chute for cross country skiing and biathlon are available because snow has been known to remain there all the way through May. To the left, closer to the open market where I stood, children – alone or joined by parents – were riding sleds and snowballing. I can hear their excited and merry shouts as I move, avoiding a large jeep with dark glass windows, towards the stands where the famous Zlatibor dry-cured meat is being sold.
– It’s quite a crowd here, not so much in the summer as in the winter, but we manage somehow. We just move past by them and continue on our way, and so can you, sir. But first, do sample the dried meat! Where it has been left to dry, there is no crush – the young woman dressed in the Zlatibor-style folk costume, a mixture of those worn in Montenegro and Šumadija (central Serbia).
 I take a thin slice of dry-cured beef from her hand and as I relish its inimitable taste, I begin walking towards the hill. There I no way I could get lost, as there are maps and signs everywhere. A man mounted on a large white horse, which he rents for horseback riding, passes me; but I’m here to walk not to ride.
Not used to such situations, it takes me at least two and half to three hours treading in the deep snow to reach the monument at the top of the hill and back to my accommodations. On the way, I come across one of the many locals selling cranberry juice and preserve. They are lined up at every 50 to 100 metres. "Natural medicine to boost your immunity", I manage to make out the writing on a piece of cardboard attached to a foldaway plastic table, as flurry precludes a broader view. I walk on, passing by those already returning to the foot of the hill. In just over one hour, as the sky was clearing and becoming bluer, I succeeded in reaching the top that offers a panoramic view on all sides.
 This was just like in the book titled Mt. Zlatibor from an Old Album by Snežana Djenić-Ajdanić:
"... As a geographical whole, Mt. Zlatibor embraces the region between the Sušica and Uvac Rivers, the eastern slopes of Mt. Tara and western slopes of Mt. Murtenica. In the northwest are its villages of Kremna and Mokra Gora, and in the southeast – Mt. Murtenica, that is Mt. Zlatibor’s hill country making a transition towards the neighbouring Mt. Tara and Sandžak heights." – all this was open to view in the distance. Moreover, before one’s eyes looms only a large upland, some thirty kilometres long and twelve kilometres wide stretching from the northwest towards southeast and lined with the Gradina, Crni Vrh, Čigota, Murtenica, Tornik, Čavlovac and Vijogor heights, which account for most of this western Serbian mountain’s tallest peaks.
 Half an hour later, accurately measured by the clock on the mobile phone, although time seemed at a standstill in this mixture of different airs, I began my way back. Owing to the depth of the snow, the way down was not much easier than the way up. Taking the same path back, I walked a bit longer mostly due to the crowds of people around the lake and at the cafes dotting the settlement’s centre that I needed to go around to reach the four-story building at which I was staying.
Following a dish of smoked and dried ribs and sauerkraut, a local specialty at the nearby ethno-restaurant, I returned to my room, took off my winter overalls, and sank into a sleep I found impossible to resist. It was already dark when I woke up, and it was nearly time to leave Mt. Zlatibor – although I would have liked to prolong my stay bit. An unforgettable experience, akin to ‘walking on an ocean of clean air’.
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Tourist Centre with 250-Year Tradition
Mt. Zlatibor is a mountain of singular beauty, with a pleasant sub-Alpine climate, spacious clearings, luxuriant grazing land, swelling mountain creeks.
Winds from different directions meet over its slopes, whose average height is 1,000 metres above sea level. Summers are warm, and winters mild. It rains relatively frequently here, and there is snow from October to May.
From the mid 17th century it became a destination of the idle and the wealthy, a place for all those who were primarily seeking to improve their health as well as to find tranquility where eyes rest and body restores energy.
Still, tourism in the true sense of the word, moved forward only when Mt. Zlatibor was visited by King of Serbia, Aleksandar Obrenović. The most popular in the early days was a place called Kraljeva Voda (The King’s Water). This was where his royal majesty would take his midday meal. However, other Mt. Zlatibor peaks such as Palisad, Ribnica, Oko also followed suit and sprang to fame.
And then in 1905, also seeking to improve his health, came another royal, King Petar I Karadjordjević. The first large tourist facilities, including hotels and settlements that are rife to this day, were built following his stay. |
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Flora and Fauna
Favourable above-sea-level altitude, significant precipitation levels and high insolation - more than 2,000 hours annually – make Mt. Zlatibor a lusciously green mountain.
The most numerous eco-systems are grazing land, that is meadows (unmowed, mowed and meadows by watercourses) hosting as many as 120 different types of grass and herbs, of which many have salubrious properties. Deciduous types of trees (beech, oak, birch, linden, ash) dominate altitudes of up to 600 metres above sea level, while evergreens (white and black pines, firs, spruce trees) take over at altitudes above 600 metres.
Animal life is also diverse. Mt. Zlatibor used to accommodate – today this is not as pronounced – large numbers of wolves. Bears are not as numerous today, but they can still be found in places. Wild boars, foxes, hares, martens, badgers, quails, partridges and squirrels have until recently been frequent, even in the proximity of human settlements. The griffon vulture and the imperial eagle - two types of birds protected by law being endangered species -- may at this time only be seen on Mt. Zlatibor.
The Mt. Zlatibor plateau is lower at the northern and northwestern sides. This makes all the water move towards the Black Sea by way of the Drina, Djetinja and Moravica Rivers. Numerous rivers and streams abound in different-type fish ranging from chub, gudgeon, trout, huchen and grayling. |
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230 km from Belgrade
The distance from Belgrade to Mt. Zlatibor is 230 km, from Novi Sad - 300 km, and as much to the Adriatic Sea. It is across Mt. Zlatibor that a major road leads from Belgrade to the seaside. Bus lines connect it with Novi Sad, Belgrade, Niš, Jagodina and other cities. The Belgrade-Bar trunk line passes partly via the Mt. Zlatibor range. | |
