Foggy mountain road was wriggling like a snake.
Thick trees didn’t give us a chance to see the underlying town. It was so
foggy, that I thought it’s not Serbia, it’s the second part of “The Mist”.
Fortunately, tentacles and spiders didn't appear.
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We, another Russian family from Irkutsk and the owners
of our villa “Pobeda” which means “victory” set off early in the morning to
explore some surrounding area of the town. By the way, don’t take the word
“villa” seriously – many small comfortable hotels in Vrnjačka Banja are called
“villas”. Actually our trip supposed to be an excursion, but it felt like a
friendly adventure. We and the Irkutsk family made such good friends, so this
august we are going to meet with them again.
The fog lifted and we finally reached the first
point of our destination – a small farm which produces…well, I think it
produces almost everything a small farm in Serbia can produce: honey, jam, wine,
juice, meat and fish products…We were offered a wonderful raspberry juice. A
farm itself is a dream: surrounded by mountains it has a mill, rabbits, lots of
flowers and incredibly neat look.
Not so far from the farm was located a lonely
Drench monastery. Built in XIV th century, it is safely hidden by the trees. However,
during the next century the monastery was completely destroyed by the Turkish
conquerors. The monastery was rebuilt not a long time ago, but new look didn’t
effect on the architecture, location or even on the lifestyle. Looks like the
time has stopped here. Our villa’s host gifted the local nuns a huge vacuum
cleaner and they were absolutely happy to receive such a useful gift.
Please, don’t spend too
much time talking with the nuns. We still have a lot of things to see. For
example, have you noticed those endless rows of vineyards? Serbia is famous not
only for slivovitz, but also for incredible wine. Vinogradi Nikolić is one of
the producers. Located not far from Aleksandrovca, this wine-producer has a
hugely attractive household. With incredible hospitality the owners welcomed us
and we spent about an hour tasting various sorts of wine, talking about life
and enjoying beautiful windrows and mountains.
The owners also have an
animal farmer, which they gently call “a zoo”. There you can find many neat seeps
and even one deer.
By the way, when we
were leaving, the owners gifted us so much wine, we could hardly bring it home.
The Monastery of Saint
Petka is another quit place located not far from Vrnjačka Banja. Situated on
the hill, it gives you an opportunity to see the underlying roads, forests and
villages. The monastery itself is not very old, but has beautiful features. For
example, an architectural space around the monastery was transformed as an
imitation of Christ’s tomb in Jerusalem.
Nevertheless, the monastery called “Žiča” built
in an early 13th century is a much more touristic place. No wonder- it is one of the main monuments of the Serbian
Orthodoxy. Here was crowned the first king of the country Stefan Prvovencani.
Since then, the ascension Cathedral, located in Žiča, became a permanent place
of coronation for Serbian kings. The last coronation here took place in the
early 20th century.
The monastery has such a long and interesting
history, that one can write the whole book about it (I am sure someone did). It
has gone through various kinds of lootings and destructions but every time it
was rebuilt again. The Serbs call this
place the mother of all the churches.
The architecture of the monastery is very
fascinating. It combines Byzantine and Western
European traditional architecture.
And the last, but not
the least…A monastery which is included in UNESCO, a masterpiece of medieval
architecture, the largest, the richest - The Studenica Monastery.
From height of bird's flight, it is visible that the monastery has the
shape of a circle, framed by high walls in the center of which stands the
mother Church. It seems very elegant as the walls are faced with white marble.
Everything here is shows the shade of the time as the monastery is really old.
It was built in XII century and, as many ancient churches and
monasteries in Serbia, suffered from the Turkish yoke. However, the greatest
losses it had during the restoration period when in 1846 painters over the old
frescoes painted a new layer of plaster and drew new images.
We started this
Serbian trip in modern and bursting Belgrade and now I will finish it in a
place which is far from urban life, in medieval Studenica. The time has stopped
here, there are no touristic attractions, no busses full of tourists, no
glamour cafes and restaurants. Here is the real life. Here is the place where
you start to understand yourself and the world around you.
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