About Golija

30 km away from Ivanjica there is a mountain the beauty of which is really fascinating. Golija is one of the most beautiful mountains in Serbia but it is also one of the richest in forest. It has the shape of the letter „s“ and it is 32 km long. Upon the suggestion of the Nature Protection Institute of Serbia, Unesco declared biospheric reserve Golija-Studenica on the  territory of 53804 hectares and it is situated within the nature park which occupies the area of 75183 hectares. The matchless beauty of Mt. Golija keeps supprising the tourists. Everybody who visit the mountain admires its forests which are almost impassable, lush pastures, numerous and clear springs, the inhabitans, their disposition, speech, national costumes and other beauties and parities of the mountain.

The highest peak of Mt.Golija is Jankov kamen (1833 m) and the peaks Bojovo brdo (1748 m), Paina česma (1725 m). Radulovac (1725 m), Odvračenica (1674 m), Tičar (1492 m) etc. come after it. There is a lake on the road Kumanica-Bele vode. It is called Tičar lake and it is located in a lush evergreen  forest. Many legends as well as scientific papers by phd. Nedeljko košanin and Radovan Ršumović are related to it. It is  10-15 m long. It used to be bigger and it used to flow into the Pakašnica river. Atmosphericwater formed the lake and destroyed the rocks at its bottom. As a result, the lake basin was getting deeper until it reached the very source its gets water from noadays, Thus, the lake keeps existing. In the village called Okruglica there is another lake worth mentioning. It is called „Nebeska suza“ ( Heavens tear). It lies at the altitude of 1495 m and it appeared after an earthquake in Romania in 1974. Košaninovo jetero is the lake lying underneath the mountain peak of Crepuljak. It is complatelyovergrown with peat vegetation. Unlike some other mountains in our country, Mt. Golija is famous for its unique beauty which lies in the fact that not a stone can be found on its meadows which have been mown for ages, so that it is full of natural ski runs. However, it lacks good ski lifts and stamped snow. There is one ski lift which is 600 m long. There are no accompanying facilities which are necessary not only for winter sports but also for this beautiful mountain where there is the largest number of snowy days.
Mt. Golija is full of clean and healthy water springs which are only minor brooks at the source, but then they join and form rivers which are rich in various fish (brown trout, huchen, gudgeon, chub, etc.) . The sources of the Moravica river (it springs at the altitude of  1425m and flows downwards to the altitude of 1500 m and flows down to the altitude of 629 m) are also located on Mt. Golija.
On Mt. Golija you can also see various monuments and monasteries originating from the late 12th  and the early 13th centuries. One of them is the Church of Pridvorica. In the village of Gradac there is a big cross-shaped tombbstone called Grački krst. It is very big and some old christian symbols and letters were written on it in 1662. In the village of Ostatija there is also church on Mt. Golija which is 46km away from Ivanjica. It was built during the reign of the Namanjića dynasty. And it is dedicated to the sealers St.Cosma and Damian. One of the well-known monuments which lies at  the foot of mountain Golija is the bridge called Rimski most which is 17km away from Ivanjica and it is belived that it dates back to the Nemanjić dynasty period, though it is called Roman bridge.

It is a one–arch bridge which is 14 m long and 2.4 m wide and it has been reconstructed and conserved.
In order to find out at least some things about Mt. Golija, a passanger must spend several days getting around the peaks of this beautiful mountain. Even if we move towards Kopaonik, Pešter or Dragačevo, we can see Mt. Golija clearly. It is towering the other Old Vlach mountains and looks like an island on a stormy sea. Mt. Golija is horse shoe-shaped and is situated in the valley surrounded by the Ibar and the Moravica rivers, the Pešter plateaux and the mountain of Radičevo.