Devil's Town - Natural Formation in Eastern & Southern Serbia
Devil’s Town, in Serbia's deep south, is a trippy cluster of 202 natural stone pyramid-like structures towering eerily over bright red, highly acidic mineral brooks and streams. According to the common wisdom, the towers – which perch in between 2m and 15m in height, topped with eerily haunting volcanic ‘headlike formations to gawp at silhouetted against the sky , oft enveloped in swathes of mist – were formed after guests were petrified by an offended god due to their wedding which apparently had been performed ‘under less godly circumstances’.
Djavolja Varoš is within easy reach by car; otherwise we do suggest you should catch a bus to Kuršumlija, and then grab a taxi from there. Camping at the park is strictly forbidden but there are loads of locals willing to welcome those who get lost in the wilderness. You could camp in close proximity, but beware the snakes and wolves who tend to populate the area. There seems to be a good reason it is called The Devil's Town!
The bizzarely named site the “Devil’s Town” is located in village Đake with an equally grotesque name (the word originates from a Turkish word “gjak” , which translates as’ blood’ . The soil figures, or as the locals call them – pillars are located in two gullies with a narrow watershed in between the base parts of which are connected into an erosive formation of a singular shape, severely damaged by the erosion and the elements and worn away by the passage of time. The resulting artistry is astonishing. The gullies or the ravines bear a number of other peculiar names. Funnily enough, one is called the “Devil’s Ravine”, and the other “Hell’s Ravine”. Surely these quarters seem to have ‘tales to tell’ to those with a wanderlust bug’ or merely in a vampire state of mind along these bumpy unpaved roads.
This for some people a rather bizarre natural formation is made up of two natural and certainly rare phenomena in the world: the soil figures, as particular forms of jaw dropping relief , and two springs of highly acidic water with a high degree of mineralization.
Lest we forget, the Devil’s Town is a new Seven Wonders of Nature nominee to be added to the list eventually as a one very idiosyncratic geomorphological phenomenon and a rare occurrence in the world of today.
adapted and submitted by Natasha from Angloland
www.angloland.rs
angloland.skola@gmail.com