CRNICA CANYON

Mystic canyon of river Crnica is located in the village of Zabrega, 18 km from Paracin. I said mysterious, because this place, before Nemanjic dinasty, contained a lot of monasteries and churches. Some of them are now in ruins and left barely noticeable traces. This part is also called Mala Sveta Gora (Little Holy Mountain), as it is believed that the monasteries were founded by Hilandar monks. Above the village, city Petrus once dominated, of which only ruins left, as witnesses of the ancient times.

Zabrega can be reached by taking the turn off the highway Belgrade-Nis, near Paracin, (turn to Davidovac). Then the road leads to Popovac and then Zabrega (some 3 km from Popovac). Distance between Belgrade and Zabrega is 178 km.

The trail that we passed is a part of, so-called, path of the Petrus monks. It starts in the village Zabrega. From this table you must follow the markings uphill:

You will climb up on the hill very fast. There is a beautiful view of the valley of river Crnica and the remains of the monastery Namasija. There is a path to the monastery, it leads down the slope.

After 45 minutes of walking, uphill and then downhill, you will enter the canyon of Crnica. We followed the trail that goes to the right. Also, there is a path that goes to the left, all the way to the monastery Sisevac. We walked by narrow but visible trail about 600-700 m, and we saw the remains of the Monastery of St. Archangels, Church of the Holy Sunday and the church of St. George. End of the trail is the rock that can not be passed, except by swimming. It is possible to cross the river at a place where the river is shallow and come to the monastery Namasija, but in the spring it is difficult to find a suitable place to cross.

We went back to Zabrega and continued towards Petrus and the remains of the Monastery of St. John Beheaded. The trail is marked all the time.

From the monastery, we cross the river, pass the toilet and then climb the marked path. After half an hour we are on the top with remains of Petrus. A rock called Cross-rock is dominating, locals says it was the inspiration for Djura Jaksic‘s poem “Fatherland.”

We followed the markings that runs down the slope and after 20 minutes we reached the remains of the Monastery of St. Mary of the Flame of Petrus. The monastery is at very beautiful place.

The tour is relaxing, not too strenuous, although there are few steep climbs and descents. For the end, I recommend a visit to the monastery Lesje on mountain Baba (Grandma), which is built in Russian style, and it is completely different from any Serbian monastery.

May 2013.