The valleys of the Morava and of its main tributary, the Bulgarian Morava, divide Servia into two parts of unequal extent. The valley of the Morava forms a natural highway between the Danube and the interior of Turkey, passing through the frontier town of Alexinatz. A Roman road formerly led along it. Krushevatz, the ancient capital of the Servian empire, occupies the centre of a plain in the valley of the Servian Morava, not far above the defile of Stalaj, where the two Moravas unite at the foot of a promontory crowned with ruins. The remains of the palace of the Servian tsar are still shown there, and it is stated that Krushevatz, at the height of Servian power, had a circumference of three leagues. It is only a poor village now. The wildest mountain masses of Servia rise between the two Moravas, their culminating point being the Kopaonik (6,710 feet), which attains a greater height than any other summit between the Save and the Balkans. A wide prospect of incomparable beauty opens from its base and rocky summit, extending southwards over plains and mountains to the pinnacles of the Skhar and the pyramidal Dormitor. In itself, however, the Kopaonik is quite devoid of beauty, and where its slopes have been deprived of the forests which once covered them, the bare rocks of serpentine present a picture of utter desolation. Its valleys are far from fertile, their inhabitants are sulky and poor, and many amongst them suffer from goître. The mountains which extend to the north of the Kopaonik, along both banks of the Ibar, are for the most part still clothed with oaks, beeches, and conifers. The broad valley of the Servian Morava, rivalling in fertility the plains of Lombardy, penetrates into these mountain masses. But they rise again to the north of that river, attaining a height of 3,622 feet in the mountain mass of Rudnik. Cretaceous rocks predominate, frequently surmounted by granitic peaks. The valleys are narrow and tortuous. This is the famous Sumadia, or “forest region” of Servia, which during the rule of the Turks offered a safe asylum to the persecuted rayas, and in the war of independence became the {174} citadel of Servian liberty. The little town of Kraguyevatz, in one of its narrow valleys, was chosen to be the seat of government, and it still retains a gun foundry, supplied with coal from the basin of Chupriya. A secluded capital like this may have suited a people constantly engaged in war, but when Servia entered upon a career of progress the seat of government was removed to Belgrad. This city—the Beográd, or “white town,” of the Servians, the _Singidunum_ of the Romans, and the _Alba Græca_ of the Middle Ages—is delightfully situated upon a hill near the confluence of the Danube and Save, and overlooks the swampy plains of Syrmia. Belgrad, from its favourable geographical situation, has become a place of much trade, and is likewise an important strategical position. [Illustration: Fig. 48.—CONFLUENCE OF THE DANUBE AND SAVE.