Klisura

Klisura exists because Serbian geography forces rivers through narrow defiles, and people settled where gorges widen enough for habitation. The name itself means 'gorge' in Serbian (from Greek kleisura, 'mountain pass')—a toponym describing function rather than founding. Multiple villages bear this name across Serbia: in Surdulica, Bela Palanka, and Doljevac municipalities, each positioned at a strategic narrowing where water carved through rock.

These gorge settlements served dual purposes throughout history. Militarily, narrow passes could be defended with minimal force—a geographic chokepoint that channeled invaders into kill zones. Economically, gorges concentrated river flow for mills and channeled trade routes through controllable passages. The villages that grew at gorge entrances and exits became toll points, way stations, and defensive positions.

Sičevačka Klisura, the most famous Serbian gorge near Niš, stretches 17 kilometers between Suva Planina and the Svrljig Mountains. Villages at its entrance (Dolac) and exit (Prosek) controlled passage between the Bela Palanka and Niš basins. The gorge's microclimate and isolation created distinctive local ecologies—natural laboratories for adaptation.

Today, gorge villages across Serbia share common challenges: populations in the low hundreds, aging demographics, and limited agricultural land constrained by steep terrain. The 2002 census recorded populations of 332, 222, and 184 in Serbia's three main Klisura villages. In 2026, these settlements' trajectories depend on whether adventure tourism (climbing, kayaking, hiking) creates economic niches exploiting the same geography that once provided defensive advantage, or whether depopulation empties these passes of permanent human presence.