Old quarry · also called Rakovac Cave
It looks like a cave, but people made it. For centuries stone was cut here, probably also for the monastery below. What remains is a hall about four metres high, with a stone roof resting on massive pillars.
Good for kids
TEMP PHOTOBeli Majdan (“white quarry”) is known locally as Rakovačka pećina, the Rakovac Cave. It is not a natural cave. It is an old quarry cut into the hillside, where stone was extracted until the 1930s. The stone was used for gravestones and house foundations, and most likely for Rakovac Monastery itself.
The entrance is several dozen metres wide and the hall runs about as deep into the hill. Its ceiling is 3 to 4 metres high and rests on thick stone pillars that the quarrymen left in place to keep the roof from falling. Tool marks and the outlines of cut blocks are still visible on the walls.
Entry to the gallery
A national park sign at the entrance reads: no entry into the gallery without an official of Fruška Gora National Park, because of the risk of falling stone. Look into the hall from the entrance, or contact the park (phone under Useful info) to arrange a visit with a ranger.
Steps cut into the rock lead up to a platform above the hall, with a view over the forest.
Hikers often mention a small opening in the ground nearby that breathes out warm air, most noticeable on cold days.
From Beli Majdan a marked path continues into the forest to the Hermitage of Isaija Parivodski (about 40 minutes) and up to the Gradac peaks.
Like any mysterious place, Beli Majdan has its tale: a cave-dweller called Veliki Sremac Baća is said to live deep inside. Nobody has ever produced a photograph.
TEMP PHOTO
TEMP PHOTOIsposnica · 18th-century rock hermitage
A tiny monk’s cell cut into a limestone cliff deep in the forest, named after Isaija Parivodić, a hieromonk of Rakovac who carved his name here in 1771. The only rock hermitage in Vojvodina.
Dumbovački vodopad
A five-metre waterfall hidden in dense forest on the Dumbovac stream. About an hour’s walk from the monastery.
Vidikovac Kesten
A viewpoint above the village with a wide view over Novi Sad and the Danube plain.
Rakovac
