Carska Bara (Serbian Cyrillic: ?????? ????

), meaning Imperial Pond,[1] is the la

rgest individual bog in Serbia, located in the municipality of Zrenjanin. It is
part of the major nature reserve, officially Special Nature Reserve "Carska Bara
" (?????????? ???????? ??????? "?????? ????").
Contents [hide]
1
Location
2
Settlements and human history
3
Geography
4
Biology
4.1
Flora
4.2
Fauna
5
Nature Reserve
6
References
7
External links
Location[edit]
Carska Bara is located 17 kilometers south of the town of Zrenjanin, in the west
-central part of the Serbian section of Banat, near the mouth of the river Begej
into the Tisa. The southern border is bounded by the final, navigable section o
f the Begej before it empties into the Tisa (followed by the Belgrade-Zrenjanin
road), while to the north are the vast Ecka fishponds, the largest in Serbia. En
tire bog belongs to the municipality of Zrenjanin.
Settlements and human history[edit]
Carska Bara, "Imperial Pond"
Even though it is located in the triangle of large cities Belgrade-Novi Sad-Zren
janin (largest cities in Serbia, Vojvodina and Serbian Banat, respectively), all
settlements in the vicinity of Carska bara are smaller ones, ranging from 1,500
to 6,000 inhabitants. The closest settlements are Perlez, in southern corner, o
n the Begej, and Belo Blato, east of the bog, on the southern shore of Ecka fish
pond. In the north are the villages of Lukino Selo, Ecka and Stajicevo, while Kn
icanin is southwest of it. Town of Titel is right across the bridge on the Tisa.
Gallery of the painting colony of "Ecka" is located on the northern tip of the
bog.
Human history in the area surrounding Carska bara goes back to 4,000 years BC, w
ith uncovered mounds near Mu lja (Batka) and Titel (Kalvarija). According to legen
d, the bog (carska bara, Serbian for "imperial bog"), was named after Attila, ki
ng of the Huns.[2]
Geography[edit]
The entire, physically connected wetland of Carska Bara covers an area of 11 squ
are kilometers and the entire system consists of three smaller, connected ponds
(Carska, Perleska and Tiganjica).[3] It extends for 8 to 9 kilometers along the
Begej (approximately from Begej's 4th to 15th kilometer).[4] Wetland consists of
many smaller bodies of water: rivers, canals, lakes and ponds, covered with ree
d beds, willow thickets and rushes and it is known for its color diversity. The
central, lake section is known for its blue, clear water, while the surrounding
salt marshes have white and yellow waters, all within green woods. Previously, C
arska Bara consisted of smaller and larger swamps, but in time it basically turn
ed into a complex of Begej's meanders which are naturally getting shortened and
narrowed and the bog gets more and more inclined compared to the river bed.
Biology[edit]
Sunset
Flora[edit]
Many rare and autochthonous plants live in the wetland, but also many imported o
nes. Some representatives of the water plants include water fern, white water li

lly and water farina. Meadow plants are represented by Plumbago, Achillea, wormw
ood, mallow and meadow sage and marsh plants by flowering rush, yellow flag iris
, water mannagrass and common sweet flag, etc.
Fauna[edit]
In Carska Bara and nearby Begej river there are 24 different species of fish. Am
phibians (fire salamander, edible frog) and reptiles (sand lizard, European pond
terrapin) are also abundant.
Carska Bara is the best known for its abundant bird life, as 240 bird species li
ve in it.[5] There are colonies of herons and cormorants (including pygmy cormor
ant), and other species include white-tailed eagle, buzzards, Eurasian sparrowha
wks, common spoonbills, western marsh harrier, Montagu's harrier, red-breasted g
oose, ferruginous duck, osprey, wild goose, stork, heron, woodcock etc.
Variety of mammals include wild hog, roe deer, red fox, European brown hare, mus
krat, bats, hedgehog, mole, weasel, hamster, European ground squirrel, European
polecat, etc.
Nature Reserve[edit]
Special Nature Reserve "Carska Bara" was proclaimed in 1955, with status being r
evised in 1995. It covers an area of 16.76 square kilometers, wider than Carska
Bara itself.[6] It was declared a Ramsar site on March 25, 1996.[7] Fish farm ?ck
a was appointed by Decree of the government of Republic of Serbia to act as an ad
ministrator and manager of Special Nature Reserve Carska bara ( Official Gazette RS
o 56/94, 86/05 and 46/2011)
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Zrenjanin.rs, Touring the environs Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayb
ack Machine.
Jump up ^ Carska Bara (Serbian only) Archived January 18, 2008, at the Wayback M
achine.
Jump up ^ Jovan . Markovic (1990): Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavij
e; Svjetlost-Sarajevo; ISBN 86-01-02651-6
Jump up ^ Turisticko podrucje Beograda, "Geokarta", 2007, ISBN 86-459-0099-8
Jump up ^ Blic daily, Stani ta retkih ptica, April 25, 2007
Jump up ^ "Serbia heading for sustainable tourism". Serbia: Approaching the summ
it on sustainable development. Johannesburg: Ministry of Environmental Protectio
n of Republic of Serbia. 2002-04-26. p. 24.
Jump up ^ Ramsar.org, List of Ramsar sites Archived July 12, 2007, at the Waybac
k Machine.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carska bara.
More information about Carska Bara - Serbian only official site www.carskabara.r
s
[hide] v t e
Protected areas of Serbia
National parks
erdap Fru ka Gora Kopaonik ar Mountain Tara
Nature reserves
Bagremara Brzansko Moravi te Bukovo Stari Begej
Carska Bara Danilova kosa Deliblat
o Sand Goc Jela nicka river Gorge Jerma Karadordevo Koviljsko-petrovaradinski rit
Kraljevac Lake Luda Obedska bara Okanj Pastures of the Great Bustard Upper Poduna
vlje Prebreza Prokop Selevenjske pustare Slano Kopovo Suva Planina Titelski Breg
Tre njica river Gorge Uvac Venerina padina Vinatovaca Zasavica
Nature parks
Begecka jama Golija Grmija Jegricka Nature Park Kamara
argan -