Travel Guide Đavolja Varoš (Ђавоља Варош)

23 km southeast of Kuršumlija, one can observe an amazing geological phenomenon. In the Radan massif, near the summit (1,409 m), two hundred 20-meter-high stone figures rise up to the sky. An exceptional site and an example of a geological formation very rare in the world, called Ðavolja Varoš (the "Devil's City"). In 2002, Serbia applied for its inclusion in the Unesco World Heritage List. In 2007, the site was selected as one of the seven new wonders of the world and came in twenty-seventh place. Of red and ochre color, surmounted by black discs, these stone sculptures make think of chimneys that man would have carved in the stone. Moreover, they change color at each period of the day, and it is always a delight to observe their multiple metamorphoses. At night, they are still visible, and just as beautiful, thanks to a modern lighting system. Surrounded by a lunar landscape, these natural sculptures surprise in an otherwise rather green nature. Several legends surround the phenomenon. One of the most widespread is that these pillars represent a divine punishment; the formations themselves would be in fact the guests of a wedding, dead petrified. This unique place in Europe remained for a long time the prerogative of a few specialists and locals; today this is changing and the attempts of the municipality to make it known throughout the world have succeeded. And everything has changed!