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Not far from Prolom Banja, on the slopes of Radan mountain, you can see one of the most mysterious sites in Serbia: two large valleys filled with hundreds of pillars made of petrified ground, tallest of them reaching around 20 meters. On its top, almost every pillar has a cap - a thin flat rock wider than the pillar itself. Even the valleys where this "devils" (as they are known among the local peasants) are located, bear very sugestive names: Devils' valley and Infernal valley.
Next to the Djavolja varos (Devils town), two strong mineral springs are to be found, as well as the ruins of an old church. Many eerie folk legends are woven around this area, not only because of the fantastic look of the stone pillars, but also for the fact that the process of forming of Djavolja varos isn't yet finished: as time goes by old stone pillars collapse, freeing space for the emergence of the new ones - almost making you believe that some dark, mysterious forces are at work here.
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Djavolja Varos was formed by erosion of the terrain, which mainly consists of sand and rubble. Water flows down the slopes of a broad plateau, washing away teh ground - except where big lumps of rock press the ground underneath saving it from being carried away. The result of this process is a myriad of pillars topped with flat rocks.
The process of forming of Djavolja Varos hasn't yet finished - the erosion continues, causing some of the pillars to fall down or change shape, and the new ones to emerge. This, together with a bit freaky look of the "Devils" themselves, was the reason for people to weave out a number of legends. Here is our all-time favourite:
Once upon a time, two wedding processions from two different villages were on their way to a third village, to ask a girl's hand in marriage. By some strange twist of fate, so it happened that both of them had in mind the same girl. The God, watching from above, realised that nothing good can come out of that... but the two processions were going towards each other, and they finally met in a nice green valley. While they were standing there, looking at each other, ready to pull out their weapons, God, wanting to avoid the bloodshed, decided to turn them into rocks - just temporarilly, until he comes up with some better solution. But, busy as he is with all the heavenly affairs, he completely forgot about the wretched people - who have been standing there for centuries, turned into stone and forgotten...
The area of the Varos itself, is replete with mysteries. It is actually the zone of "dragons grooves", or "dragons heads", showing a peculiar electromagnetic activity. Apparently, some plane crashed here in the 1950's, and the reason for this accident was never found out.
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Djavolja Varos (Devils's Town) is located on the southern slope of Radan mountain, 30 km southeast of Kuršumlija, between the villages Zebice and Đake, some 660-700 meters above sea level. The site is about 10 km far from Prolom Banja, and it can be reached on a 2.5 hour walk.
The bus from Belgrade leaves for Prolom Banja every day at 8:15, 12:15, 00:30, 00:45 i 05:50. One way ticket costs about 10 euros, and you will have to change the buses in Nis and Kursumlija, but your ticket is valid till the end.
When you arrive to Prolom Banja, from the bus station go straight down the hill, couple of dozens of meters down to a road that follows the little river. After some 15 min of walking, you will pass by the wooden church Lazarica, after which the road curves to the right and goes uphill. There are many turnings and cranks along the drive, and for a while you won't meet anybody nor any houses. The road ends in village Prolom.
In the village, ask for Djavolja Varos. You should take the path down to a very narrow creek, and when you reach the creek just follow it uphill, through a wide forest path, until you reach a small meadow, where the path branches. Continue straight forward, again uphill, pass a semi-ruined house and you'll again find yourself in some big green meadows. To your left you will see a small farm. Next to it you should make a turn downhill, into the forest, again along the wide forest way, all the way to a small river. When you face the river take a right, and just follow the water, quite a long way, through the forest, and you will get to Djavolja Varos.
If you like adventure, don't make a turn downhill by the farm, but continue forward, 2 - 3 km more, to a small village of about ten houses, surrounded by a wooden fence, situated on a little glade encircled by forest. Pass by the village and enter the forest through a narrow path, which after a couple hundred meters brings you to two big oak-trees. In one of them you can make out a pretty illegible carved letters "Dj. varos". Pass right between the oaks, and after a couple of minutes, you will find yourself on the edge of a steep gorge, and you will see the devils deep beneath you, in the valley. We don't recomend descenting down this gorge, even though we proved it to be possible :)
From Prolom Banja, there are several buses a day for Kursumlija, and from there, the traffic connections with Nis and Belgrade are pretty frequent.
For those with cars, there is an asphalt road till the village Raca, and after that, one should take a macadam road uphill, some 10 km farther. In the middle of the forest there is a small space that serves as a parking lot in the period when it's possible to approach the area with a car. From there, a 15-minute walk down the road will take you to Devils's Town.
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In two valleys, called "Djavolja" ("Devils") and "Paklena" ("Infernal"), there are 202 stone figures. The tallest reach 20 meters and up to 2 meters in diameter. Almost every pillar has an andesith cap on its top, i.e. a wide flat rock, and that's why these figures remind of some weird giant men, quiet and still.
You can get really close to the devils, but don't think that it's possible to walk between them - the basis of the pillars are grown together, and a lot of climbing is needed to get between two pillars. Some of the pillars are shorter, some taller, some are lonely, but they are often in the groups of three or four, different heights, reminding thus of a family. About a hundred meters away from the Town, there is a creek - Djacki potok (Students' creek), whose clear water is good for drinking.
Close to the Devils' site, you can see the ruins of an old church, of which there is no historical data. People from the vicinity, even today, visit this place, where the role of the altar is now overtaken by an old oak, grown between the foundations.
In Djavolja Varos, one very rare hydrological phenomenon can be seen - it's the two highly acid, mineral water springs. The first one is high up in the hill of Djavolja valley, and is known by the people as "Djavolja voda" ("Devils water"). This water is so acid that you can only take couple of sips.
According to the the analysis by the Serbian chemical society from Belgrade (1976), this is an extremely acid water, pH factor is 1.5, of a high mineralization (1.5 g/l). Every liter of the water contains 1.5 g of metals: aluminum (880 mg/l, iron 487.5 mg/l, copper 27 mg/l, as well as balneologically worth elements - rubidium 150 mg/l, manganese 90 mg/l, lithium 15 mg/l. Content of sulphur is 2630 mg/l.
The other spring is downstream from the first one, and the concentration of minerals in it is lower.The water from these springs can be seen around the area, where it forms smal streams or puddles that are dark green, shiny on the surface, reminding of the oil stains.
Near the Varos are the villages Zebice and Djake which are very smal and picturesque mountain settlements, pretty much isolated from the rest of the world.
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