Sopotnica

The village of Sopotnica lies on the slopes of Mount Jadovnik, at an altitude of 1, 200 m. It is situated at a distance of 15 km from Prijepolje and 327 km from Belgrade.

Sopotnica is a village of murmuring springs and cascades whose path along the slopes to their confluence with the Lim gave the river and the village their name ( sopotanje – Sopotnica ). According to legend, God offered shepherds to choose between water and luck. They chose water. God fulfilled His promise and clear and cold water flowed from the rocks in the heights of Jadovnik – the River Sopotnica. The waterfalls that this river creates are up to 20 m high. The attractive waterfalls and cascades present unique decorations woven into the fabric of the ancient rural architecture composed of watermills and cloth rolling mills, valjarice.

Another symbol of Sopotnica is dripstone. Water, the sun and the beech forests create this supple construction material on the sunny slopes of Mt Jadovnik, on calcareous rock. The dripstone of Sopotnica was used to build the nearby medieval monasteries of Mileševa, Sopoćani and Davidovica, the famous bridge on the River Drina in Bosnia, and numerous other contemporary business and residential fascilities. The village of Sopotnica is colored with water and dripstone. Dripstone is impressed in houses, water – mills and cloth rolling mills, the school, church, and the new mountain lodgings.

Sopotnica is the first village in central Polimlje region that was presented in the official offer of village vacations of the Tourist Organization of Serbia. The village hosts offer some 50 beds for tourists and prepare the famous Sopotnica meals – from spring water and the famed honey prepared by the villagers, to the round breads and pies prepared with cheese dock and buckwheat, brandy made from wild pears, to exquisite dairy products and succulent lamb.

A vacation in Sopotnica is combined with exciting rafting on the Lim, walking and bicycle tours along the wooded Jadovnik, visiting monuments in the Lim valley and the medieval Mileševa. Sopotnica is famous also for the exhibition of popular folk arts and crafts, Sopotnički izvori ( Sopotnica Springs ), which is held in the natural stage of springs and weterfalls, watermills and cloth rolling mills.

The springs of Sopotnica are protected as a natural monument of exceptional importance and they are under the regime of movement applied in protected areas.