Flow

THE JOURNALISTS OF ”NATIONAL REVIEW” CRUISING THROUGH THE GORGE OF STALAĆ
Three Morava Rivers
The gorge is about 25 kilometres long, with the fall of 10 metres. A vivid and curvy flow, with high rocks and small sandy beaches that come out of the water – this is an ideal flow for slow cruising in rubber boats. The area of beautiful shapes is rich with many ancient sacred objects and excellent springs. And the people of this area say: ”The more springs you drink from, the longer you shall live”

Text and photographs by: Dragan Bosnić

Mojsinje Mountain is in a narrow space, south of Stalać, where Južna and Zapadna Morava rivers have stopped, united and continued flowing further as Velika Morava. When we mention this mountain of its unusual name, many people would think that it is settled in the native country of Moses (Mojsije, in Serbian), and not in the central part of Serbia. Even the residents do not know the origin of this name. The name mount for the area with no extreme elevations is also very strange, with its highest peak of 493 metres.
Many churches and monasteries, founded by Sinaitic monks today are mostly in ruins or they are hidden in many gorges near Južna Morava. It is said that there were 76, and 70 monks were situated in Jakovac Monastery.
The procedure of protecting Mojsinje Mount is now in progress, being an area of exceptional shapes. Besides those sacred objects, the mountain is known for many springs of drinking water, which also has a healing character. Maybe this is where the saying originates from: ”The more springs you drink from, the longer you shall live.”
The slow and stretched Južna Morava between Mojsinje and Poslonka mounts sometimes becomes a very lively mountain river. The gorge of Stalać is 25 kilometres long. It has a fall of ten metres, a curvy flow and beautiful rocks, which wonderfully come out of the water. The gorge is ideal for slow cruising in rubber boats. The administration of Ribarska Spa, in collaboration with the local kayak club, offered its visitors a one-day excursion including the visit of the Monastery of Saint Roman, rafting through the gorge and lunch in the most beautiful part of the river. The cruise finishes in the town of Stalać.
The cruising started near the railway station in Đunis, in a calm part of the river. In that very spot the river makes curves which remind us of a doubled ”omega” letter or of a foetus. There are people who believe in the special mysterious character of the shape and who are trying to explain it. Above the sharp curve, where the river makes a closed circle, stands a powerful rock. On its peak, there are remains of the old town, which once had a great strategic importance.
After a short cruise, we reached the place where a railway bridge passes over the river, and the construction of the old bridge right besides it. This is the rapid part of the river, on which boats jump around, like on rafting events. Then, we have a sandy beach, ideal for a short vacation or swimming. On the other side, we reach again the fortified town.

THE NAME OF THE ROCK

The gorge starts right after the bridge. On the right bank, we can see trains heading to Belgrade and Niš, and on the left, we can sometimes see a car or a tractor. On the banks, are the villages Trubarevo, Braljina and Stevanac, while Mojsinje is in a safe asylum, on the peaks of the mountain. Above the railway, we can see the old bell tower of the renovated Monastery of Saint Nicholas. Very near, hidden, is the church dedicated to Saint Petka.
It is the month of May, the sun is shining, and we are tired of rowing, for kilometres now. When the cruise becomes tiring, a great rock appears in front of us, like a pagan temple. Our team’s mood became better when the scent of food reached it from the shore, mixed with the merry melodies of the local orchestra. ”U Srbiji varoš velika, kroz nju teče Morava...” (”A big town stands in Serbia, through it passes the River Morava...”). Now rested, fed and drunk, we watch the handsome men jumping from a high rock into the river, and trying to see if they are looking at the girls around them who seem to be allegedly not interested. I stood in thoughts looking at the ancient game, thinks of the temptations through which passed all the men who were brave enough to climb this rock and I though of a name for the rock: Morava Sin.
We have only one hour of cruising from the rock to Stalać. A great rest, nice wind and the shade made by the edges of the gorge, which made that the dark silhouette of the Todor Tower in Stalać appears on the left riverbank. Stalać town was founded in the time when Kruševac was founded as well, before the Battle of Kosovo. It has an important strategic position, as guarding Kruševac from attacks from southeast. It is written that armies and caravans stopped there to pass over three Morava rivers on boats, so Stalać was the right name for this town (stati – to stop, in Serbian). The great Todor Tower was a donjon, the main tower of the Great Town, fortified with a strong wall. The Great Town surrounded and protected Small Town, the narrowest town centre of old Stalać. We should mention that Lazar Hrebeljanović built them on the foundations of an antique town, from which we still have brick stoves by the church, on the way to Todor Tower. The town was destroyed by Sultan Musa in 1413. Today, we only have a part of the ramparts and a half of the tower from which Todor, or the epic Commander Prijezda jumped from into the river.

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Commander Prijezda
Todor Tower is very far from the river, so Todor’s, or Commander Prijezda’s leap into it would be impossible, in the way in which it is described in the poem. Is it the imagination of the poet or the river changed its flow? There is an assumption that it is about the tower, which stands for kilometres upstream. This assumption is supported by the fact that the southern side was protected from that tower, right from the place from which the Turkish people penetrated.