Durmitor
Encyclopedia
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
in North Western Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
. It reaches a height of 2,522 m (Bobotov Kuk
Bobotov Kuk
Bobotov Kuk is a peak in northern Montenegro. At , it is the highest peak on Durmitor mountain, and had been thought to be the highest point in Montenegro, but new surveys have revealed there are three higher peaks on the border with Albania...
).
The massif is bordered by Tara River Canyon
Tara River Canyon
The Tara River Canyon , also known as the Tara River Gorge, is the longest canyon in Montenegro. It is 82 kilometers long and is 1,300 meters at its deepest, making it the deepest river canyon in Europe...
on the North, Piva River Canyon on the West, and by Komarnica River Canyon
Komarnica
Komarnica is a small settlement in the Slovenske Gorice hills in the Cerkvenjak municipality in northeastern Slovenia. Traditionally the area was part of Lower Styria. It is now included in the Drava statistical region.-External links:*...
on the South. To the East, Durmitor is open to a vast 1500 m (4,921 ft) high plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
, called Jezerska Površ (Plateau of Lakes). Sinjavina
Sinjavina
Sinjajevina is a mountain in northern Montenegro. The highest point of Bjelasica is Babiji Zub, which is high.-Features:Sinjajevina Mountain stretches from SE to NW, between town of Kolašin and village of Njegovuđa, near Žabljak. The massif is 40 km long and 15 km wide.Geologically, its...
mountain is located to the east of Jezerska Površ plateau.
Durmitor mountain range is for the most part located in Žabljak
Žabljak
Žabljak is a small town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 1,937.Žabljak is the seat of the municipality...
municipality.
Peaks
The massive has 48 peaks above 2,000 m (6,562 ft). The highest peaks of Durmitor are:- Bobotov Kuk 2522 m (8,274 ft)
- Bezimeni Vrh (Nameless Peak) 2487 m (8,159 ft)
- Šljeme 2455 m (8,054 ft)
- Istočni Vrh Šljemena (East Peak of Sljeme) 2445 m (8,022 ft)
- Soa / Djevojka 2440 m (8,005 ft)
- Milošev Tok 2426 m (7,959 ft)
- Bandijerna 2409 m (7,904 ft)
- Rbatina 2401 m (7,877 ft)
- Lučin Vrh 2396 m (7,861 ft)
- Prutaš 2393 m (7,851 ft)
- Minin Bogaz 2387 m (7,831 ft)
- Planinica 2330 m (7,644 ft)
- Kobilja Glava 2321 m (7,615 ft)
- Savin Kuk 2313 m (7,589 ft)
- Šupljika 2310 m (7,579 ft)
Lakes
Durmitor features 18 glacial lakes, scattered over mountain massif and Jezerska Površ plateau. The lakes add significantly to the beauty of the mountain, and have been nicknamed Gorske Oči, or Eyes of the Mountain.- Crno LakeCrno LakeBlack Lake is a lake in Žabljak municipality, in northern Montenegro.It is a glacial lake, located on the Mount Durmitor, on an altitude of 1,416 m. It is 3 km away from the town of Žabljak....
- Veliko Škrčko Lake
- Malo Škrčko Lake
- Zeleni Vir
- Jablan Lake
- Valovito Lake
- Vir u Lokvicama
- Srablje Lake
- Modro Lake
- Suva Lokva
- Zminje Lake
- Barno Lake
- Pošćensko Lake
- Zabojsko Lake
- Vražje Lake
- Riblje Lake
- Zminčko Lake
- Sušičko Lake
Name
Name Durmitor is probably derived from Balkan RomanceEastern Romance languages
The Eastern Romance languages in their narrow conception, sometimes known as the Vlach languages, are a group of Romance languages that developed in Southeastern Europe from the local eastern variant of Vulgar Latin. Some classifications include the Italo-Dalmatian languages; when Italian is...
(some Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
/Vlach
Vlachs
Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. English variations on the name include: Walla, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs...
dialect), and it means "sleeping" (cognate with English dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
). There are similarly named mountains such as Visitor
Visitor Mountain
Visitor is a 2211 m / 7253 ft high mountain in Montenegro, east of Plav/Plava and its lake, from which the river Lim flows....
(visător, "dreaming") and Cipitor (aţipitor, "sleeping") across former Yugoslavia.
National park
The Durmitor National Park, created in 1952, includes the massif of Durmitor, the canyons of Tara, Sušica and Draga rivers and the higher part of the canyon plateau Komarnica, covering the area of 390 km².It was inscribed on the World Heritage List
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
in 1980.
Eighty km long and 1,300 m deep Tara River Canyon
Tara River Canyon
The Tara River Canyon , also known as the Tara River Gorge, is the longest canyon in Montenegro. It is 82 kilometers long and is 1,300 meters at its deepest, making it the deepest river canyon in Europe...
, a part of the National Park Durmitor, is second largest in the world, behind Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
Tourism
Durmitor mountain is the centre of MontenegrinMontenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
mountain tourism. The tourist facilities are concentrated around the town of Žabljak
Žabljak
Žabljak is a small town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 1,937.Žabljak is the seat of the municipality...
.
During the winter, main activities on Durmitor are skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
and, increasingly, snowboarding
Snowboarding
Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...
. In the summer, the activities shift to hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
, mountaineering
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
and recreational tourism
Recreation
Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...
. One of the most prominent attraction of Durmitor mountain are 18 glacial lake
Glacial lake
A glacial lake is a lake with origins in a melted glacier. Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,000 years ago, glaciers began to retreat. A retreating glacier often left behind large deposits of ice in hollows between drumlins or hills. As the ice age ended, these melted to create...
s, best known being Crno Lake
Crno Lake
Black Lake is a lake in Žabljak municipality, in northern Montenegro.It is a glacial lake, located on the Mount Durmitor, on an altitude of 1,416 m. It is 3 km away from the town of Žabljak....
.
Maps
- Map server www.topomaps.eu with topographic maps
- Map Geokarta Beograd 1986 with OziExplorerOziExplorerOziExplorer is raster navigation and mapping software for Windows. It is very popular among off-roaddrivers and adventure travelers as it allows to use and create custom maps for remote locations that are not fully covered by major map providers like Tele Atlas...
calibration Durmitor.map. More information on travel.valek.net website - A free Garmin-compatible GPS map of Durmitor and Pivska mountains (installer) at BGMountains.org website. Map legend is also available
- Topographic map 1:25000 (Durmitor sjever)
- Topographic map 1:25000 (Durmitor jug)
External links
- Durmitor National Park
- UNESCO World Heritage Site profile
- UNEP-WCMC World Heritage Site datasheet