Protection category I – protected area of international, national, that is, of exceptional importance
Protection degree II and III
It is located in the central part of Serbia, about 8 km west of Čačak. Regionally, this area is within the western Pomoravlje, separating the high Šumadija in the north from Dragačevo and in the south from the Starivlah-Raška highlands.
Administratively, the gorge area belongs to the city of Čačak and the Municipality of Lučani. It is about 12 km away from Lučani. Of the larger cities Požega is about 15 km away, Užice about 40 km, Kraljevo 6 km more and Kragujevac 57 km. The gorge is slightly more than 150 km away from the capital of Serbia.
Without legal protection prior to 2000
Decree on the Designation of the Outstanding Natural Landscape "Ovčar – Kablar gorge" ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 16/2000)
Tourist Organisation of Čačak
In the central part of Serbia, Zapadna Morava (the West Morava river) has cut a unique gorge through the massifs of Ovčar and Kablar, which in 2000 was protected as the Outstanding Natural Landscape "Ovčar – Kablar gorge". The river, slowing its course in collision with the cliffs of Ovčar and Kablar, has built three unique meanders, thus making the gorge a geomorphological phenomenon of particular natural value. The basic values of the gorge are determined according to its refugial character, geomorphological and monumental values, flora and fauna, as well as the attractiveness of the landscape. The main morphological characteristic of the protected gorge are the extraordinarily pronounced bends of the Morava river stream, the three so-called trapped meanders. In a clash of watercourses with steep mountain slopes, a dynamics of relief has been created that, with forest vegetation, living world and monasteries as a monumental and spiritual heritage, builds a landscape of unique beauty.
The gorge represents not only geomorphological phenomena, but also specific ecosystems that are habitats of rare and relict flora and vegetation. The Ovčar-Kablar gorge, with its diverse vegetation, is a true "museum in nature" where varieties of the coexistence of biologically different woody species occur. Conserved relict polydominant forest communities occur here, and the presence of tertiary relics, such as hop hornbeam, Turkey oak, sessile oak, South European flowering ash, field maple, small-leaved lime, smoke bush, dogwood and spurge laurel, has also been recorded. Due to the conservation and diversity of the habitats, the fauna is also rich in this area. In the gorge occur Hermann's tortoise, European pond turtle, fire salamander, peregrine falcon, golden eagle, ortolan bunting, corn crake, European pine marten, beech marten, badger and other rare and endangered species. Among the mammals, 14 species are of international, whereas eight species are of national importance, including wildcat and otter.
In addition to the natural values, 11 medieval monasteries, which are located along the West Morava or scattered over the slopes of Kablar and Ovčar, also add up to the unique character and attractiveness of the Ovčar-Kablar gorge. Along the left bank of the West Morava there are the monasteries Blagoveštenje, Ilinje, Savinje, Nikolje, Uspenje and Jovanje, and on the right there are Sretenje, Trojica, Preobraženje, Vaznesenje and Vavedenje. This protected area is one of the few where natural features and cultural heritage are brought together, making the landscape unique. The natural values of the protected area are supplemented by Ovčar Banja (spa), located in the center of the gorge, at an altitude of 279 m. The spa, with its capacities, medicinal properties of thermal mineral waters, the abundance of thermal springs and the landscape attractiveness of the tufa waterfalls and tubs on the Banjski stream, is of particular importance for the future development of tourism in this area.
Due to the presence of a large number of bird species, this area has been designated as an Internationally Important Bird Area - IBA and is also part of the EMERALD Network (PC0000033). Ovčar-Kablar gorge is a landscape of extraordinary diversity, beauty and attractiveness, a unique and very