Kaluđerski Skokovi () is the highest waterfall in Serbia. It is located on the
Stara Planina
The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs for about , first ...
mountain in southeast Serbia. Only discovered in 2012, it is high, which is over twice more than the
Kopren Waterfall, previously the highest waterfall in Serbia, which itself was discovered only a year earlier.
Location
The Kaluđerski Skokovi falls are situated in the area of the
Topli Do village, northeast of the city of
Pirot
Pirot ( sr-Cyrl, Пирот) is a city and the administrative center of the Pirot District in southeastern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the urban area of the city has a population of 34,942, while the population of the city administrative are ...
, to which it administratively belongs. The waterfall is located just southwest of the
Midžor
Midžor ( sr-cyr, Миџор, ) or Midzhur (, ) is a peak in the Balkan Mountains, situated on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. At , it is the highest peak of the Western Balkan Mountains, as well as the highest in Serbia.Including Kosovo, ...
peak on the Stara Planina mountain, close to the border with
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
.
Characteristics
The waterfall is located on the river of ''Kaluđerska reka'', which flows into the ''Rakitska reka'', which in turn forms the
Toplodolska reka with the ''Javorska reka''.
The waterfall is high, long and is a typical
cascade waterfall
A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge
of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in several ...
. On average, the inclination of the falls is 55 to 60 degrees, but some sections are almost straight, up to 90 degrees. It has over 20 cascades. The Midžor itself is high, and the waterfall starts at an altitude of and ends at .
Accessibility
The waterfall is hard to access. It is possible to reach it only in the early spring, while the region is still under snow, and with full
rock-climbing equipment
Rock-climbing equipment varies with the specific type of climbing that is undertaken. Bouldering needs the least equipment outside of climbing shoes, climbing chalk and optional crash pads. Sport climbing adds ropes, harnesses, belay devi ...
. During summer, the already steep rocks grow into the thick, lush vegetation.
Due to the
topographic relief
Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...
, Kaluđerski Skokovi in full can only be observed from the air.
History
Dragovan Stojadinović, amateur explorer who discovered some of the highest waterfalls in Serbia, discovered the Kaluđerski skokovi in 2012. On 9 June 2012 professors from the
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia.
Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...
's Faculty of mining and geology and the Institute for nature conservation of Serbia measured the waterfall.
Developments in the recent two decades completely changed the geography of Serbia, when it comes to waterfalls. Area of the Stara Planina has always been sparsely populated and inaccessible because of the rugged and forested terrain, but also as a location of the Serbian-Bulgarian border. As armies gradually relinquished the borders keeping to the police, civilians were allowed to explore the area. As a result, higher and higher waterfalls have been discovered on the Serbian side of the Stara Planina since then: Čungulj in 1996 - ;
in 2002 - ;
in 2011 -
and Kaluđerski Skokovi in 2012 - .
See also
*
List of waterfalls
This list of notable waterfalls of the world is sorted by continent, then country, then province, state or territory. A waterfall is included if it is at least tall and has an existing Wikipedia article, or it is considered historically sig ...
*
List of waterfalls in Serbia
References
{{reflist
Waterfalls of Serbia