Zlatibor


Zlatibor is a mountainous region situated in the western part of Serbia.
Among the most popular places in Serbia for tourism, Zlatibor's main attractions include health tourism, skiing, and hiking. The largest city in the region is Užice—located at the foothills of the mountain—while most of the area belongs to the municipality of Čajetina. The town of Zlatibor has shifted over the years from a group of vacation homes to an urban location with diverse amenities. The Tornik ski resort is located in the area.
The Zlatibor region is divided among two municipalities, Čajetina and Užice, while both lie within the Zlatibor District. The Belgrade-Bar railroad passes through Zlatibor.

History

In the Middle Ages, the region was known as Rujno, a župa that was part of Raška, a centre of the medieval Serbian state. The name Zlatibor came into the 18th century, but its etymology is uncertain. It probably stems from the Serbian words zlatni and bor. Pinus sylvestris var. zlatiborica is a subspecies of pine originating from the mountain, and is endangered today.
A hill by the name of Cigla, located near the nearby village of Jablanica, still has some borderline markings of the Kingdom of Serbia, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire.

World War II

In the late 1941, the mountain became a focal point of the treasure hunt, connected with the withdrawal of the Partisans from the collapsing free territory of the Republic of Užice. After taking Užice, the Partisans confiscated much paper and silver money. On 10 October 1941 they shipped two trucks to the mountain and buried the money. Another bulk, only silver, was taken with them during the withdrawal in the end of November and buried into the ground on Zlatibor. After the war, the official story by the Partisans was that all the money was later seized by the Germans and the Chetniks, but after the fall of Communism, different information surfaced.
On 28 November 1941, Josip Broz Tito and Slobodan Penezić Krcun ordered for the silver to originally be transported to the Zlatibor villa of the Belgrade lawyer Aca Pavlović. There were 103 cases, 60 kg each, or 6 tons in total. It was masked as an ammunition. The treasure was then transported to the location of Borova Glava, where at the locality of Jokina Ćuprija part of it was buried, but the work wasn't finished due to the German offensive, so they tried to move the remaining part. As the transport by trucks wasn't an option due to the offensive, the Partisans were now carrying the crates on their backs. As they were chased by the Germans, the Partisans threw away the crates and the silver scattered over the meadows in the direction of the river Rzav, managing to keep only few bags of paper money.
According to the report of the Chief of Staff, the Partisans lost half of the paper money during the withdrawal across the Zlatibor, while the silver coins were sloppily buried and then stolen by "some people". Both the Germans and the local population in the ensuing period searched and collected treasure on the mountain. Germans discovered the main vault left by the Partisans in the search party organized on 3 December. They also collected most of the silver which was dispersed on the mountain.

Geography

Zlatibor itself is located in the northern part of the Stari Vlah region, a historical border region between Raška, Herzegovina and Bosnia. It spreads over an area of, in length, southeast to northwest, and up to in width. Its highest peak, Tornik, has an elevation of 1,496 m. Zlatibor is situated between, and, and between and.
The southern and the eastern border of Zlatibor are natural – the rivers Uvac and Veliki Rzav. Villages of Mokra Gora, Semegnjevo and Jablanica mark its western border towards the Tara Mountain. Southern part of Zlatibor, extending towards the Zlatar mountain, is referred to as Murtenica.

Climate

The climate is humid continental.

Tourism

Situated at an elevation of just over 1,000 metres, Zlatibor is a climatic resort, characterized by a cool alpine climate, clean air, long periods of sunshine during the summer and a heavy snow cover in winter. Tourist facilities include modern hotels, holiday centers and cottages, sports grounds and skiing tracks.
Tourist era on Zlatibor officially began on 20 August 1893, when the King of Serbia Aleksandar Obrenović decided to establish a health resort on an initiative from the local hosts. To his honor, a fountain was erected on the place where he had lunch, and namedKraljeva Voda. The fountain was accompanied by the small artificial Zlatibor Lake, formed in 1947. It was built by damming the Obudovica river during one of the Youth work actions, on the project by engineer Miladin Pećinar.
In 1945 the settlement was renamed to Partizanske Vode after Yugoslav Partisans, and in 1991 the town received the current name Zlatibor. The area is a location of numerous hotels, villas, restaurants, open swimming pools and other sports facilities. Eventually, residents of surrounding villages of Sirogojno, Gostilje, Jablanica, Rožanstvo, Ljubiš, Tripkova and the town of Čajetina opened their homes to tourists and built other facilities.
The lake was completely emptied in April and May 2020 for renovation, which includes the nearby Kraljev Trg. The lakebed was washed and cleaned, the diversion channel will be built around it to conduct dirty water during the rainfall while the multi-purpose floating stage will be placed on the lake.
Since 2005, an annual "Village Multisport Event" is held in the village of Jablanica. Event consists of performing various old tasks. At the Vodice locality, from Zlatibor town, a Western-style resort and theme park "El Paso City" was opened in May 2020. It covers, including a hotel but also the bungalows in the shape of tents, caravans and wagons, horse stable and Indian village named after Sitting Bull. River which flows through the complex divides it in Western section and a Serbian one across it, which includes church and hamlet.

Protection

The process began in January 2016 and in October 2017, the government placed part of the mountain under protection as a Nature Park Zlatibor. The land within the "protected area of exceptional importance" is 56% privately owned and covers the villages of Semegnjevo, Jablanica, Stublo, Dobroselica, Ljubiš and Gostilje. The settled area is in the lowest, third level of protection while the first level of protection occupies 4,69% of the entire area, or. Within the park there are four regions: Viogor, Black Rzav, Uvac Gorge and Griža Gorge. There are also previously protected areas: strict natural reserve "Park Forest" and natural monuments "Lira black pine" and "Three black pines - Dobroselica". The total area of the park is.
There are 1,044 species of plants in the park. The prevailing fauna consists of the autochthonous black pine forests and the mixed forests of black and Scots pine, which are categorized as a priority habitats by the Natura 2000. There are 18 species of amphibians and reptiles, 154 species of birds and 38 species of mammals. With the gradual return of wolves and bears in the 21st century, the tracking of the animals which began in 2017 on the Golija mountain, showed that the Zlatibor area is a main transit area for brown bears, which passed through here to the south and southeast areas, including Tara, Šargan, Mokra Gora, Golija, Uvac and Zlatar. 2019 surveys showed that a permanent population of brown bear settled at Zlatibor itself.
The park includes three cultural monuments and numerous objects of architectural legacy.
The park is bounded by the Uvac river on the south, border with Bosnia and Herzegovina on the west, mountains of Mokra Gora, Semegnjevo and Grude on the north and the mountain of Murtenica and Katušnica river on the east. Ribnica Lake and Čigota massif are within the park, while the towns of Čajetina and Zlatibor remain outside.