Žabljak
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Жабљак |
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Žabljak (Serbian Cyrillic: Жабљак) is a town in northern Montenegro. The town of Žabljak has a population of 1,937.
Žabljak is seat of Montenegrin municipality of the same name (population 4,204 in 2003). The town is located in the centre of Durmitor mountain, on an altitude of 1456 m, which makes it the settlement on the highest altitude in the Balkans.
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[edit] History
The first Slav name of the place was “Varezina voda” possibly because of the strong source of drinkable water nearby, making urbanity possible. Later, the urbanity was renamed “Hanovi” or originally “Anovi” because there caravans took a rest. The today's name is from the year 1870, when in one and the same day the building of a school, of a church and of a captain's home was begun. In he days of Balkan Wars and all of the old buildings were destroyed. Left was only the old church of Sv. Preobraženje (Holy Transfiguration), built in 1862 as a monument to the victory in the battle against Turks. Right after Žabljak was established as a town, a few retail stores and a few cafes were opened, also. Thus, in the 1880s Žabljak already was some kind of a market-place making it in time also the regional administrative center.
In the period shortly before World War II, Žabljak was a small town with the typical mountain architecture. Right in this times the unique nature starts to draw attention of tourists from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, but also from abroad. Very often numerous guests from Italy – because of very close ties between Montenegro and Italy – came.
During World War 2 the small town was burnt right to its foundations. Everything was left to flames, the homes, the monuments, the buildings. Left were only the smoky sites of fires. The war ended, Žabljak rebuilt itself and became the center of winter sports in Montenegro.
[edit] Population
Žabljak is the administrative centre of Žabljak municipality, which has a population of 4,204. The town of Žabljak itself has a population of 1,937, and there are no other bigger settlements in municipality.
Population of Žabljak:
Ethnic groups (1991 census):
- Montenegrins (91.07%)
- Serbs (7.33%)
Ethnic groups (2003 census):
- Serbs (50.26%)
- Montenegrins (43.03%)
[edit] Tourism
Žabljak is centre of Montenegro's mountain tourism. The entire area of Durmitor mountain is protected as a national park, and offers great possibilities for both winter and summer mountain tourism.
The town of Žabljak has proven as an excellent base for activities such as:
- Skiing - Durmitor's snow cover lasts 120 days per year and its best slopes are Savin kuk, Štuoc and Javorovača.
- Rafting - the 1,3 km deep Tara River canyon is the second-deepest in the world, and is listed with UNESCO world heritage sites. Rafting on Tara River is among most popular tourist attractions in Montenegro.
- Mountaineering - Durmitor has perfect conditions for this sport, as cliffs and slopes are abundant.
- Hiking - Surroundings of town of Žabljak provide great hiking paths.
One of the main tourist attractions of Durmitor are 18 glacier lakes, the biggest, most beautiful and closest to Žabljak being "Crno jezero" - literally Black lake.
Durmitor's slopes are also becoming increasingly popular among snowboarders.
[edit] Transport
The main problem that hamper the development of Žabljak as major regional mountain tourism destination is lack of quality road infrastructure. The situation is somewhat improving in recent years.
Žabljak's main road connection with the rest of Montenegro is road that links Žabljak with Mojkovac and E65 road, which is itself main road connection between Montenegrin coast, Podgorica and the north.
The other significant road connection is through Šavnik and Nikšić, on to Risan or Podgorica. Efforts are made to thoroughly reconstruct Žabljak - Risan corridor, which would shorten the trip from Žabljak to Risan to around two hours.
The closest airport is Podgorica Airport, which is some 170 km away. It has regular flights to destinations throughout Europe.
[edit] External links
| Municipalities of Montenegro |  |
|---|---|
| Andrijevica | Bar | Berane | Bijelo Polje | Budva | Cetinje | Danilovgrad | Herceg-Novi | Kolašin | Kotor | Mojkovac | Nikšić | Plav | Pljevlja | Plužine | Podgorica | Rožaje | Šavnik | Tivat | Ulcinj | Žabljak | |
