NAME AND TYPE OF PROTECTED NATURAL AREA
Nature Park "Sićevačka klisura" (Sićevo gorge)
NATIONAL CATEGORY
Protection category II – protected area of regional, that is, of great importance
AREA
7.746 ha
PROTECTION REGIMES
Protection degree II and III
MUNICIPALITY
The City of Niš and the Municipality of Bela Palanka
LEGAL PROTECTION IN THE PAST
The Decision on the designation of a part of the area Sićevo gorge (City Assembly of Niš, No. 022-48/77 from January 26th, 1977)
LEGAL ACT ON PROTECTION
Decree on the designation of "Sićevačka klisura" ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 16/2000)
MANAGING ENTITY
PE "Srbijašume"
SHORT DESCRIPTION (THE MAIN NATURAL AND CREATED VALUES)
Sićevo gorge has been placed under protection as an area of exceptional biological diversity and the habitat of a large number of endemic, endemorelict, relict and rare species of plants and animals, as a particular example of the occurrence and interaction of geological, geomorphological and hydrological processes, and as a landscape of pronounced natural beauty and successful combination of nature, human traditional activities, construction works and cultural and historical monuments.
Sićevo gorge represents the breakthrough gorge of Nišava river, which breaks through the Kunovička karst plain and further flows between the southern slopes of Svrljiške Mountains and Suva Mountain. In morphological terms, Sićevo gorge is one of the most impressive and valuable limestone valleys of gorge and canyon type in Serbia. Three morphological units are distinguished within the gorge - Gradiška canyon, Prosečka gorge and Ostrovica structural basin. A special mark of the gorge are numerous caves, rock shelters, pits, sinkholes, hummocks and imposing limestone escarpments of Kusača, arranged in an arched amphitheater-like series. The gorge is characterized by diverse natural and created values. Despite numerous human impacts, the presence of a large number of endemic, endemorelict, relict, rare and generally important species of plants has been registered in the gorge, so it can rightly be said to be a great refugium of plant species of Serbia, the Balkans and Europe.
The most attractive and valuable part of the gorge is the grand Gradiška canyon with its closely folded sides, which are mostly vertical, terraced stone cliffs. The width of the canyon at the bottom is mainly reduced to the river bed of Nišava river. It is on these inaccessible cliffs that one of the last pairs of the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) in Serbia nests. At the exit of the canyon, there is a promontory called Oblik. This promontory and Jelašnica gorge represent unique and exclusive habitats where the species of Serbian ramonda (Ramonda serbica) and Natalie's ramonda (Ramonda nathaliae), tertiary relics and endemics of the Balkans grow together, forming the community Ramondietum nathaliae-serbicae.
A number of medieval monasteries, churches, fortifications, and other valuable monuments and sites represent a special value of the area of Sićevo gorge. Among the aforementioned, two monasteries have the status of immovable cultural property and are entirely conserved. These are the Monastery of the Holy Mother of God and the Monastery of Saint Petka "Iverica". Parts of the famous Roman road Via militaris have also remained conserved.
Nature Park "Sićevačka klisura" (Sićevo gorge)
NATIONAL CATEGORY
Protection category II – protected area of regional, that is, of great importance
AREA
7.746 ha
PROTECTION REGIMES
Protection degree II and III
MUNICIPALITY
The City of Niš and the Municipality of Bela Palanka
LEGAL PROTECTION IN THE PAST
The Decision on the designation of a part of the area Sićevo gorge (City Assembly of Niš, No. 022-48/77 from January 26th, 1977)
LEGAL ACT ON PROTECTION
Decree on the designation of "Sićevačka klisura" ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 16/2000)
MANAGING ENTITY
PE "Srbijašume"
SHORT DESCRIPTION (THE MAIN NATURAL AND CREATED VALUES)
Sićevo gorge has been placed under protection as an area of exceptional biological diversity and the habitat of a large number of endemic, endemorelict, relict and rare species of plants and animals, as a particular example of the occurrence and interaction of geological, geomorphological and hydrological processes, and as a landscape of pronounced natural beauty and successful combination of nature, human traditional activities, construction works and cultural and historical monuments.
Sićevo gorge represents the breakthrough gorge of Nišava river, which breaks through the Kunovička karst plain and further flows between the southern slopes of Svrljiške Mountains and Suva Mountain. In morphological terms, Sićevo gorge is one of the most impressive and valuable limestone valleys of gorge and canyon type in Serbia. Three morphological units are distinguished within the gorge - Gradiška canyon, Prosečka gorge and Ostrovica structural basin. A special mark of the gorge are numerous caves, rock shelters, pits, sinkholes, hummocks and imposing limestone escarpments of Kusača, arranged in an arched amphitheater-like series. The gorge is characterized by diverse natural and created values. Despite numerous human impacts, the presence of a large number of endemic, endemorelict, relict, rare and generally important species of plants has been registered in the gorge, so it can rightly be said to be a great refugium of plant species of Serbia, the Balkans and Europe.
The most attractive and valuable part of the gorge is the grand Gradiška canyon with its closely folded sides, which are mostly vertical, terraced stone cliffs. The width of the canyon at the bottom is mainly reduced to the river bed of Nišava river. It is on these inaccessible cliffs that one of the last pairs of the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) in Serbia nests. At the exit of the canyon, there is a promontory called Oblik. This promontory and Jelašnica gorge represent unique and exclusive habitats where the species of Serbian ramonda (Ramonda serbica) and Natalie's ramonda (Ramonda nathaliae), tertiary relics and endemics of the Balkans grow together, forming the community Ramondietum nathaliae-serbicae.
A number of medieval monasteries, churches, fortifications, and other valuable monuments and sites represent a special value of the area of Sićevo gorge. Among the aforementioned, two monasteries have the status of immovable cultural property and are entirely conserved. These are the Monastery of the Holy Mother of God and the Monastery of Saint Petka "Iverica". Parts of the famous Roman road Via militaris have also remained conserved.
