Banat Gorge (Banatska klisura)
Banatska klisura (Banat Gorge) is a geographical region in Romania. It is located in southern Banat, along the northern bank of the river Danube, at the border with Serbia. It spans from the Nera in the west, and settlements lie in the foothills and river banks below the Banat mountains of Locva and Almăj.
There are 13 localities in which the Serbian population has lived since ancient times. Of these localities, 4 are on the left bank of the Nera River: Leskovica, Zlatica, Lugovet (Câmpia) și Sokol (Socol). Along the Danube are: Baziaš, Divići, Belobreška, Požežena (Pojejena), Radimna, Mačević (Măcești), Stara Moldova (Moldova Veche), Ljubkova și Svinica.
The beginning of the settlement of the Serbs in the Banat Gorge (Danube Gorge) has not been determined exactly, but it is known that they came in the 13th century, while in the middle of the 17th century Austria made a new colonization of the Serbs. With the Treaty of Trianon (1920), the region was given to Romania. Today, region has a trans-ethnic character owing to the co-habitation of Romanians and Serbs.
Cusici, Zlatița and Baziaș Monasteries
The river of Nera’s flow was a geographic corridor and a cultural passage that connected the Banat with the Danube valley. The Serbian Orthodox Monasteries Zlatiţa and Cusici were build in the 13th -15th century within the Nera passage.
Bazias is the place where the Danube enters Romania’s territory, a place filled with history and legends. The localitiy’s name is related to the first Serbian Archbishop, Saint Sava Nemanjic. The legend says he stopped in the area during a severe storm where the local wind, Coșava (Košava), was beating very hard, causing Saint Sava to shout, “Baș zias!” which in Serbian means “Baš zijaš - You really yell!”, hence the name of the place. The Saint Sava is considered to be the one that founded the Serbian Orthodox Monastery of Baziaș in 1225. One interesting fact is that today the Cusici (Kusić) Monastery is on Romania’s territory and the village with the same name (Kusić) is in Serbia, situated in the Bela Crkva municipality, in the South Banat District.
Serbian Orthodox Churches (18th -20th Century)
Locations: Divici (Coordinate: 44.78193 N, 21.48056 E), Belobreșca (Coordinate: 44.78561 N, 21.51078 E), Radmina (Coordinate:), Pojejena (Coordinate: 44.77236 N, 21.56922 E), Macesti (Coordonate: 44.75498 N, 21.60741 E), Moldova Veche (Coordinate: 44.72131 N, 21.61833 E), Liubcova (Coordonate: 44.65931 N, 21.89484 E)
Trail & Locations:
1. Cusici (Kusić) Monastery
2. Zlatița Monastery
3. Socol – Pojejena (DN57A)
4. Balta Nera - Dunăre Nature Reserve
5. Baziaș Monastery
6. Serbian Orthodox Churches
7. Pojejena - Moldova Veche (DN57)