Jezero Uvac – Uvac lake

Uvac lake and Uvac canyon valley is natural asset of greatest importance, I Category. It is truly, one of the most beautiful spots in Europe, hidden in healthy land of mount Zlatar. Uvac river cristal clean waters deeply carved their beds in the limestone rocks, thus forming narrow canyon valleys with high, steep limestone cliffs. The special value of the canyon parts of the valley are curving meanders, with relative height around 100 m.
Caves are numerous and vary in size from rock shelters to the biggest cave system known until now in Serbia – Usak Cave System 6185 m!

Uvac lake is situated at an altitude of 985m above sea level and is 26 km long with maximum depth of 108 m. There are two more lakes nearby, Zlatarsko lake and Radionjsko lake. Uvac is a high quality natural resource with the capacity of 500 million m3 of drinking water.

At the lowest part of the canyon there lies open a history book illustrated with a stone bridge on Zvale, remnants of an old imperial road connecting Dubrovnik and Constantinopolis. Clean natural water is habitats of 20 species of fish. Special Nature reserve is distinguished by the presence of 104 bird spices. There are also some other rare and endangered mammal spices such as: wolf, bear, lynx, otter, doe, badger, pine marten, wild boar, etc.

The basic goal of putting Uvac Special Nature Reserve under protection was preservation of Griffon vulture, rare spicies of vulture eagle, of an impressive size and a wingspan of up to 3 m, which makes him a powerful flier. The bird does not kill, does not hunt its prey and does not look for a victim, Its role in an eco-system is unique and it can not be taken by any other species. It is adopted to a diet of dead animals and therefore stops the spread of diseases and contributes to a kind of „natural recycling“. This „ecologist“ is appreciated all around the world.
Uvac eagles adorned Serbian coat of arms since the times of Nemanic dinasty, and baby Grifon vulture will be the first mascot of the Olympic team of Serbia. Up there, high in the sky, he sees further, better and clearer than the man does.