Roads

RAVNA GORA, ON SUVOBOR, ABOVE THE SHADOWS OF THE PAST AND THE PRESENT
Liberated from the winners and the defeated
In World War II, after the fast fall of Yugoslavia, the headquarters of the guerilla Yugoslav Army of the Homeland (Chetniks) was stationed there. After the war, it seems as if the political ruling of the winners against the defeated, communists against monarchists, was a sentence against this mountain as well. It was left without access roads, electricity, water, or people. Only occasional nature lovers and enthusiasts would, almost secretly, come to the beautiful flowery meadows, clear water creeks from which the water can be drunk, picking medicinal herbs and mushrooms from pristine forests. They enjoyed the solitude and silence of the mountain. Half a century after the war people started coming to this mountain, bringing along problems

Text and photographs: Milan Janković

Ravna gora – forbidden words many years afterWorld War II.
Many wanted to hide it, as if it doesn’t or never existed. On the roadmaps of Serbia one can find the mountain Suvobor and possibly Rajac, a part of this mountain. Ravna gora is usually not marked anywhere.
During World War II, General Draža Mihajlović, the supreme commander of the Yugoslav Army of the Homeland (Chetnik movement) stayed on Ravna gora. It is known, the outcome of the war was the defeat of this political option, and General Mihailović was sentenced by the court of the other, winning party, as an enemy of the people and a traitor. Many believe, and facts speak for themselves, that Ravna gora was sentenced by that same political ruling. It was left without access roads, electricity, water, people. For almost 60 years it was not advisable to mention this area or stay in it. Still, occasional nature lovers and enthusiasts would, almost secretly, come to the beautiful flowery meadows, jump over clear water creeks from which the water can be drunk, picking medicinal herbs and mushrooms from pristine forests. And through this web of circumstance and to its benefit, Ravna gora gained the reputation and appearance of a protected natural area.

REMEMBERING AND UNDERSTANDING THE MOUNTAIN

In recent years, a network of roads has been built, enabling curious visitors to visit this area relatively easily.
Many roads lead to Ravna gora, but the most appropriate road is via Mionica or Ljig and Banja Vrujci, then toward Struganik. In that village there is also a house in which Duke Živojin Mišić was born, the famous commander of the Serbian army that, in the Battle of Kolubara, in World War I, defeated the Austro-Hungarian armed forces. Exactly there, on the slopes of Suvobor. And so the two mountains, significant for the history of Serbia in different periods, found themselves in an ideological conflict: one was declared patriotic, and the other a traitor.
But, let us leave this to historians and politicians, and from Struganik we should go up the asphalt road toward Suvobor. After 15 kilometers we arrive on Ravna gora.
Along the built roads, people and their bad habits arrived on the mountain. In the absence of any urban or spatial plan, wild construction began, first in a small volume, but today it already threatens to destroy life and natural balance.
Even today, Ravna gora practically does not have any inhabitants. When snow melts in the spring, several elders from neighboring villages come with their herds to the green pastures and stay there, in log cabins, until the first frost.
Based on the design of architect Predrag Ristić, a church dedicated to St. George, as the protector of warriors, and for the repose of the souls of all those who died in the war 1941-1945, was built in 1998. Next to the church, a bell tower and a gate were built, using tufa, brick and wood, materials used in church building even in the distant past. At some distance from there, a memorial center was built, based on the design of architect Spasoje Krunić.
During the summer, one can stay, in a Spartan manner, in a forest lodge, where one can get something to eat and drink, as well as in nearby local sheds. However, one can rely on all this only on Saturdays and Sundays, and then mostly during the high season, when picnickers and tourists arrive.
One should not miss Mokra pećina (Wet Cave). There is a stream running through it, which, after a few hundred meters, empties into a small river Grab, which separates two mountains: Suvobor with Ravna gora to the left, and Maljen to the right.
Ravna gora is located on the marked pedestrian transverse road between Rajac and Divčibare. Those who are fit can try to get to Ravna gora from there, through beautiful uninhabited land, meadows, forests and creeks.
Ravna gora is endangered today because there is no protection plan for its land and nature. A particular problem is its spreading through three municipalities: Mionica, Gornji Milanovac and Ljig. The future of this beautiful mountainous area is certainly in their hands.