Vratna Gates
Прерасти у кањону Вратне
Interesting facts
- The Vratna Gates are often described as the largest natural stone bridges in Europe.
- The Dry Prerast lies almost 3 km upstream of the other two arches, near a point where the river drops about 50 metres.
- The collapsed cave roof between the Little and Big Prerast once stretched some 100 metres before falling in.
- Several caves near the arches were found only in the 21st century; one runs about 400 metres, another hides a small underground lake.
- Mouflon were introduced into the local hunting ground in 1965 and still roam the surrounding forests.
- According to local tradition, the monk Nicodemus first lived as a hermit in a cave just past the second arch before founding the monastery.
- Nicodemus, credited by tradition with Vratna Monastery, also founded the Tismana and Vodița monasteries in Wallachia and is venerated as a saint.
Why it is worth it
In a wooded gorge on the slopes of Miroč mountain in eastern Serbia, the little river Vratna flows beneath three natural stone bridges, known locally as prerasti. The arches follow one another along the same short stretch of river, and the gorge between them is a narrow world of limestone walls, woodland and a stream that disappears underground in summer.
The first two arches stand directly over the stream. The Little Prerast is 34 metres high, with an opening 22 metres wide and a span of rock about 15 metres long and 10 metres thick. The Big Prerast is lower, at 26 metres, but far more massive: its arch runs 45 metres long and is around 30 metres thick, spanning an opening 23 metres wide. The third, the Dry Prerast, is 20 metres high and 34 metres long, with a 15-metre opening; it owes its name to the fact that in summer the river sinks into the ground before reaching it and reappears further on. All three are cut into late Jurassic limestone. The first two are believed to be surviving fragments of a former cave tunnel whose roof collapsed in between, while the third was shaped where the river plunges down a step in its bed. The surrounding karst holds several caves that remain little explored, among them one with a small underground lake.
Close to the arches stands the Vratna Monastery, which gave the place its name. It was founded in the 14th century by the monk Nicodemus of Tismana, and today it is a convent of nuns. The arches were declared a natural monument of geomorphological value and placed under state protection in 1957. Marked trails lead beneath the Little Prerast, and a wooden bridge crosses the river near the Big Prerast.
Getting there
The Vratna Gates lie in eastern Serbia, near the village and monastery of Vratna, about 23 km from the town of Negotin. The nearest airport is Niš Constantine the Great Airport (INI), about 123 km away.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Prerasts of Vratna or Vratna Gates are three natural stone bridges on the Miroč mountain, two in the vicinity of the medieval Vratna monastery, and the third farther away into the depths of the Vratna river gorge, in Bor, eastern Serbia.
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