KALAFAT (838 m)

Mountain Kalafat rises above the city of Nis and Gornji Matejevac, a nearby village. Gornji Matejevac is 10 km away from Nis, and 250 km away from Belgrade.

At Gornji Matejevac, on the hill Metoh, there is a church of the Holy Trinity, from the 11th century. That is, so-called, the Latin church. Catholics – Latins, used it as a church in the 16th century. This tour starts from the Latin church. From Latin church, you must walk to the 20-minute distant monastery of St. John the Baptist. The monastery dates from the 11th century.

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Several paths lead to the top. The trail from the Latin church is the most interesting. The trail starts from the monastery of St. John, at this crossroad, 1 km away from the monastery:

Left path leads to the monastery, right one goes to Kalafat. The markings are weak and washed-out. But, this is not a problem, because you will follow the macadam road.

After a 45-minute of walk (2.5 km), you will come to a forest house and an intersection called Sliva. From here, you can see mountain Stara planina.

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From here, turn left, and then immediately right, into the woods. There are good markings, which, after 15 minutes (1 km), will guide you to the top of Kalafat (838 m).

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The top is in the woods and there are no interesting lookouts, except for the small one, below the top. Distance between the monastery of St. John and the top is about 4.5 km (an hour and a half of walk), with 300 m of ascent. You can go back by the same path and climb a hill above the Latin church. Then you will enjoy in spectacular views at Suva planina, and its peaks Trem (1810 m) and Sokolov kamen.

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November 2021.