The village of Zlakusa
- Užice, Srbija
The village of Zlakusa
There is almost no craft in Serbia that has survived for so long and experienced a new youth as making pottery in Zlakusa. Here, uniquely, from special materials (clay and calcite), earthenware has been made by hand for three centuries, on a hand potter’s wheel and baking and an open fire.
In the middle of 2020, the dishes were certified. The bearers of the certification are the families gathered in the association of potters Zlakusa, who, despite more modern and easier techniques of making, remained faithful to the traditional on the wheel, the so-called masonry. Each purchased vessel must have two markings: a mini handprint – the master’s seal and the inscription Zlakusa with an old stylized Z.
The pottery craft in the Uzice village of Zlakusa is inscribed on the UNESCO representative list of intangible cultural heritage. The decision of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Preservation of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO states the importance of the traditional making of Zlakusa pottery, on a hand wheel, masonry technique, and earthenware intended for thermal processing of food. The nomination of the old craft was prepared jointly by the Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade, the Open-Air Museum of the Old Village of Sirogojno, and the Zlakusa Potters’ Association. The credit for the revitalization and preservation of pottery as a craft also belongs to Sofia Bunardzic, an academic painter, ceramicist, longtime professor, and director of the Art School in Uzice.
- Lokacija
- Užice, Srbija
- Galerija
Udruženje lončara "Zlakusa"
- Zlakusa BB, 31205 Sevojno
- udruzenjeloncara@gmail.com
Etno park „Terzića avlija“, 31205 Sevojno
- +381 (0) 31 546 118
- +381 (0)69 546 118 0
- terzicaavlia@gmail.com
Turistička Organizacija Užica
- Trg partizana 10, Užice
- 031 513 485
- Vodička služba: 063 585 304
The far-famed Terzica Avlija Ethno Park preserves tradition and ethnological heritage, folk art and crafts that are passed down from generation to generation. It is a typical rural household, which consists of two old Serbian houses, one of which is one hundred years old, built of unfired brick, with a roof on four waters and covered with old pepper tiles. One of them stayed every day, and the other was used to receive and accommodate guests. It has kept the same purpose today, and the other house has been turned into a museum where everything that was once used in everyday life is collected – from tools to documents, manuscripts, old banknotes, pieces of furniture and much more.
There are about 60 km of circular hiking trails in Zlakusa, one part of which can be used for cycling. All trails start from the ethno park and are divided into four that intersect and intertwine. The trails connect the ethno park, Potpec cave, Petnica with ponds, waterfalls, old mills, Gradina peak, watershed with lookouts on the Rzav river valley, peaks of Zlatibor, Mucanj, Golija, Ovcar, Kablar and Jelova Gora with calcite square in Rupeljevo where they extract this raw material… These trails are completed by a marked route along the picturesque canyon of Derventa, where the old stone Roman bridge is located. Part of the marked pedestrian paths intersects the projected route of the European pedestrian road E-7 and coincides with it.
Etno park „Terzića avlija“, 31205 Sevojno
+381 (0) 31 546 118
+381 (0)69 546 118 0
E-mail: terzicaavlia@gmail.com
Potpec cave in the village of Potpec is 14 km away from Uzice, at the northern foot of Dreznicka gradina (932 m above sea level). The entrance to the Potpec Cave is one of the monumental works of nature. A giant horseshoe-shaped portal, 50 meters high, 12 meters wide at the bottom and 22 meters at the top, is the highest cave entrance in Serbia. It is carved on a limestone cliff, the vertical part of which is 72 meters high. The researched and arranged length for visitors is 555 m. The entrance-exit path has over 700 steps.
The Potpec cave is of the spring type: it was built by the waters of the sinkholes that sink in the Dreznicka valley and after the underground flow in the length of 4-5 km, break out of the cave or spring and build Petnica – the cave river.
There are two main floors in the Potpec Cave: the older one – the Upper Cave and the younger one – the Lower Cave. The entrance channel is common to both horizons, since it was created by destroying the mezzanine structure and connecting them. The richness of cave jewelry is one of the very rare in karst caves. Morphospeleologically, there are 12 units in the Potpec Cave.
Work hour:
From April 1, weekdays, from 12 to 16h, weekends 10-18h.
From May 1, every day from 10 am to 6 pm.
Entrances are every hour. Last entry at 5 p.m.
The season of the Potpeć Cave is April 1 – October 31.