Pešter Plateau

Pešter is a limestone plateau at around 1,200 to 1,500 metres, an open landscape of grassland, peat bog and sinkholes with almost no trees, and it holds the record for the lowest temperatures measured in Serbia, with readings below minus thirty in hard winters. That climate and the karst soils produce the pasture behind Sjenica cheese, a white cheese matured in brine and made from the milk of local sheep, and Sjenica lamb, both of which carry protected designations. The plateau is a Ramsar site for its peat bogs and birdlife, including breeding waders. Villages are scattered and traditional stone and timber houses survive. It is one of the emptier landscapes in the country and quite unlike the wooded mountains around it.

The landscape

• Open karst grassland - treeless plateau with sinkholes and bog.
• Sheep flocks - the grazing behind the cheese and lamb.
• Peat wetlands - the Ramsar bogs with breeding waders.
• Village architecture - stone and timber houses of the plateau.

When to go

June to September; the plateau is bleak, snowbound and severely cold from November to April. Cheese is made through the grazing season. Summer nights are cold even in July.

Practical notes

There is very little infrastructure: few places to stay, limited food beyond Sjenica town, and no visitor facilities on the plateau itself. Weather is harsh and exposed with no shelter. Buying cheese directly from producers needs local contacts. Roads across are rough.

Nearby

Sjenica is the base town; Novi Pazar lies northeast.