Pešter
| Pešter | |
|---|---|
| Пештер | |
 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 1,492 m (4,895 ft)[1] |
| Coordinates | 43°03′04″N 20°03′21″E / 43.051166°N 20.055833°E |
| Geography | |
  Pešter | |
| Official name | Pestersko polje |
| Designated | 19 March 2006 |
| Reference no. | 1656[2] |
The Pešter Plateau (Template:Lang-sr), or simply Pešter (Serbian Cyrillic: Пештер, pronounced [pɛ̌ʃtɛr]; Template:Lang-sq), is a karst plateau in southwestern Serbia, in the Raška (or Sandžak) region.
It lies at the altitude of 1150–1492 m, (Kuljarski vrh) at 1492 meters. The territory of the plateau is mostly located in the municipality of Sjenica, with parts belonging to Novi Pazar and Tutin.
Name
The name of the region comes from the common Slavic word for cave (Template:Lang-cu).
In the speech of people native to the area, the original feminine gender of the word is preserved despite the loss of the -a ending (nominative Pešter, genitive and locative Pešteri), but in standard Serbian the gender is masculine (nominative Pešter, genitive Peštera, locative Pešteru).[3]
Geography
The plateau is actually a large field (Peštersko polje) surrounded by mountains of Jadovnik (1734 m), Zlatar (1627 m), Ozren (1693 m), Giljeva (1617 m), Javor (1519 m), Golija (1833 m), Žilindar (1616 m), Hum (1756 m), Ninaja (1462 m) and Jarut (1428 m).
With the area of around 50 km2, the Pešter field is the largest field in Serbia, and the highest one in the Balkans.[4] The rivers of Uvac, Vapa, Jablanica and Grabovica flow through this plateau.[5]
In the geologic past, the field was a large lake, of which only a small lake (in Sjenica) near the village of Tuzinje remained.[4] The soil is mostly karst interspersed with pastures. Economy of the area relies primarily on cattle breeding, chiefly sheep.
Pešter is famous for its dairy products, especially the "Sjenica cheese" (Sjenički sir), as well as lamb and pršut (or prosciutto).[5]
The plateau is sparsely populated: most settlements are on the edge of the field, and the remainder is settled only during summer months.[4]
Pešter is famous for its microclimate, which is particularly harsh in the winter months, and due to this, it is often called the "Siberia of Sandžak".
The lowest temperature in Serbia since measurements are taken, −39 °C (−38 °F) is measured at Karajukića Bunari village on 26 January 2006, beating the previous record of −38.4 °C (−37.1 °F) measured in Sjenica in 1954.[6]
In the near geological past, the field used to be a highland lake, which gradually drained through karst ruptures, leaving marshy remnants in the lowest parts, around the flow of the sinking river Boroštica.[7] Those areas are home to a wet peatbog habitat that's unique for a karst area.
On the 1st of May in 2006, Ramsar included the wetland area of 3,455 hectares into its list of wetlands of international importance.[8]
Pešter is home to a number of endangered plant species, such as Fumana bonapartei, Halacsya sendtneri, and Orchis tridentata. The only nesting place of Montagu's harrier in Serbia is in this area.[8]
History
In 1700 the High Porte of the Ottoman Empire instructed the Pasha of Peja to pacify Rugova, resulting in 274 families being displaced from Rugova to Pešter.[9] At that time, some members of the Shkreli and Kelmendi have begun migrating into the Pešter region.
The Kelmendi chief had converted to Islam, and promised to convert his fellow tribe members as well. A total of 251 Kelmendi households (1,987 people) were resettled in the Pešter area on that occasion, however five years later, the exiled Kelmendi managed to fight their way back to their homeland, and in 1711 they sent out a large raiding force to bring back some other from the Pešter region as well.[10]
The remaining Kelmendi and Shkreli converted to Islam and became Slavophones by the 20th century, and as of today they now self-identify as part of the Bosniak ethnicity, although in the Pešter plateau they partly utilized the Albanian language until the middle of the 20th century particuarily in the villages of Ugao, Boroštica, Doliće and Gradac.[11]
Gallery
See also
References
- ^ Mountains in Serbia Archived 2010-06-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Pestersko polje". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ Sinan Gudžević. "Pešter i Velež" (in Serbo-Croatian). Novosti (Croatia). Retrieved 19 August 2020.
- ^ a b c "Prirodni resursi" (in Serbian). Official web site of municipality of Sjenica. Archived from the original on 2010-06-26. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ^ a b "Sjenica-Pešter" (in Serbian). Tourist organization of Serbia. Archived from the original on 2007-10-06. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ^ "Minus 39, oboren rekord" (in Serbian). Glas Javnosti. 2006-01-27. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ^ "Peštersko polje". Serbian Tourist Organization. Archived from the original on 2012-09-10.
- ^ a b "The Annotated Ramsar List: Republic of Serbia". Ramsar Convention. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ^ Rahimi, Shukri (1987), Rugova-Monografi etnografike (E kaluara historike e Rugovës), Prishtinë, Kosovë: Akademia e Shkencave dhe e Arteve të Kosovës (Seksioni i Shkencave Shoqërore), p. 16
- ^ Elsie 2015, p. 32.
- ^ Elsie, Robert (30 May 2015). The Tribes of Albania: History, Society and Culture. I.B.Tauris. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-78453-401-1.
External links
- Ivanjica - Golija - Pešterska visoravan - Moravac – a hiking tour through Pešter and Golija (in Serbian)
- Rezervati prirode - Peštersko polje at the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia
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