DOWN THE VALLEY OF THE RIVER JERMA

MAP N^O 2 – DOWN THE VALLEY OF THE RIVER JERMA

1) PIROT

2) Sukovo is a settlement in municipality PirotIN THE COUNTY OF Pirot, 3km from Corridor 10 and 17km in the South-east of Pirot, on the left bank of the river Jerma, on the regional motorway Pirot-Zvonacka spa-Babusnica.

3) Sukovsko lake is situated 17.8 km from Pirot (600m North-west of the centre of the village). It’s 200-250m long with an average depth of 2 meters, and near the dam it’s 6-8 m deep. The lake is interesting for fishermen, who can expect pikes, but also perches, redstarts, chubs and carps.

4) The monastery of the Holly virgin nearby Sukovo (The monastery of the Holly virgin or Sukovski monastery) about a kilometer of the village on the right bank of the river Jerma, on the foot of Carev kamen hill, 15 km from Pirot or 25 km from Dimitrovgrad. It was being built in the period from 1857-1858, dedicated to Holly virgin’s uprising, and painted in 1869. On the south wall there is Saint Christopher’s fresco, painted with a horse head, and like that very rare. The monastery is against protection of Serbia since 1968.

5) On the road Sukovo – Monastery St John the Baptist there is a village Vlasi, 300 m north of which there ia a cave Windy hole (Vetrena dupka) more than 3 km long consisting of three morphological elements 1) Horizontal cave and 2 vertical pits Pesterice (of 40m radius and 155m depth) with the sinking water of Berovsko Lake to Muddy hall. The cave is on the left side of the river Jerma, and it has five wholes.

6) The river Jerma originates from the Wolf river and the Grubina river near the village Klisure. The length of the river from the village Klisure to its mouth is 63,5km, and with The Wolf river as its source branch its length is 72,1km, which makes it a longer tributary of the river Nisava. 45,1 of it belongs to Serbia, and 27km of it bilongs to Bulgaria (as Erma).

7) The gorge of the river Jerma had been formed during the Tertiary period, after the regression of the Senon Sea (about 65 million years ago), and complex and long-lasting changes of the initial paleorelief. The forming of the today appearance happened in the Plicene and Pleistocene phase as a result of the combined effect of tectonic activities, water erosion, denudation and karst processes. That is when the river Jerma was formed.

In the region of Derekul, the riverbed of the river Jerma is wide in the extensions, and very narrow in the gorge. The water flows through the gorge with a roaring sound, it makes its way near huge blocks, or throws down them, whirls and foams. In the wider part of the riverbed, the depth of clear water amounts to several dozen centimeters, and about two metres in the gorge during the summer. The water level is considerably higher during the winter when snow melts. Flowing through Mount Greben (1337 m) and Vlaska Mountain (1442 m), the river Jerma builds two huge ravines which are commonly known as Odorovsko and Vlasko zdrelo (gorge), and whose sides are 300-400 m high and 10-30 m wide. The ravines had been completely impassable until 1927. A narrow-gage railway route was built at that time (for the needs of the coalmine ‘Rakita'). The mine was closed during the 60s of the previous century, and an asphalt road replaced the route during the 70s.

(http://www.todimitrovgrad.org.rs/engleski/ostale_stranice/kanjonJerme.htm)

8) Monastery of St. John (people call it Poganovo because of a nearby village Poganovo ) is 25 km from Pirot on the left bank of the river Jerma on the territory of Dimitrovgrad municipality, is an endowment of the serian lord Konstantin Dejanovic, the construction had been finished before May 1395, when Konstantin was killed at Rovina battle, and after his death, his daughter Jelena, spouse of the Byzantine czar Manojlo II Paleolog, took care about it. There had been, today it is copy, a double icon from the end of XV century, thye present of czar Jelena, with portraits of Holly virgin and John the Baptist on one side, and on the other the miracle in Laton monastery. The icon was taken as a war prey by Bulgarian army, and now it is in the collection of crypt of St Aleksandar Nevski church in Sofija, together with some other preciousness from the monastery. The monastery has been under state protection since 1949.

9) Zvonacka spa is situated 50 km from Pirot to Babusnica, down the river Jerma. It lies on woody slops of Vlaska mountain, at the altitude of 670m, so it is considered as “climate spa”. Zvonacka spa was famous from antique age, and Medieval Serbia. Mineral water springs of 28^oC temperature and 9m/s of flow are used for drink and bath.