Cult movie "I Even Met Happy Gypsies" was shot in this Danube marshland : Europe's Amazon in Serbia

Photo: Ivan Strahinic

On the alluvial terrace of the left bank of the Danube River, from the border between Hungary and Serbia to Bogojevo, in the West Backa District, is the home to the Special Nature Reserve Gornje Podunavlje ("Upper Danube").

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This part of Serbia belongs to the so-called "European Amazon," which includes wetlands in five other countries - Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Austria and Bulgaria.

The reserve, which alternates between woods, meadow, march and aquatic vegetation, is home to 230 species of birds, 60 species of butterflies, 51 species of mammals, 50 species of fish, as well as amphibians and insects.

As attractive it is to go to this nature reserve and get to know the flora and fauna while sailing in canoes through areas that are rare of its kind on this planet, it is even more interesting to meet people who live in peripheral villages.

Their customs and traditions, preserved from oblivion, will take you back to some ancient times when people lived in harmony with nature, respecting its laws and adapting life to the space they inhabited. Blacksmiths and boatmen are just some of the craftsmen who resist time, preserving the memory of their ancestors in this part of the "European Amazon."

One of the settlements in the Upper Danube was the shooting location for the cult classic movie "I Even Met Happy Gypsies" ("Skupljaci Perja" in Serbian), which depicts authentic life of the Romani population in this part of Vojvodina.

Photo: Ivan Strahinic

(Telegraf.rs)