Grahovo

Aerial view of the Poljen of Grahovo and Dragalj. Grahovo has fertile soil, Dvrsno has stony dry soil. The different ice age sedimentation conditions cause this difference

To the south of the Grahovo polje, the Draglaj Polje has dry, barren soil

Temperatures in Grahovo and neighboring Crkvice

Grahovo is a small town in the high Grahovo Polje in western Montenegro , on the north side of the Orjen Mountains.

The village is a capital of the agropastoral way of life of the Katunska Nahija, a Montenegrin clan area in the high karst of the Dinarides . Their settlement area is characterized by the monotony of the flat undulating tub landscape with sparse bush forest. The agricultural use of the Poljes and remote grazing on extensive summer pastures on the Bijela gora plateau in the Orjens determine the traditional form of farming . The sterility of the surrounding karst landscape makes the small Polje von Grahovo, sunk by around 250 m in its south-western peripheral area close to the rise to the Orjen Mountains, appear as an oasis and makes the numerous battles for its possession understandable.

Grahovo lies below a hill in the protection of a former Turkish fortress.

geography

The Grahovo polje is one of the highest poljen of the Dinarides . Due to the ice age deposits in the form of the huge debris cone on the southern edge of the Poljer, as well as the fluvioglacial deposits in the western part of the glacier descending from the Bijela gora plateau, Grahovo polje with its deep, mineral clay soils is one of the most fertile regions of the high karst. The situation in the adjoining Dragalj polje, on the other hand, is completely different, which has a very stony, dry soil due to moraine deposits and is not an option for agricultural use. The Serbian scholar Jovan Cvijić creates a haunting image of the mighty Ice Age deposits in Dragalj polje :

“A glacier came from the huge glacial nutrient area of the Pazua ( Orjen ) and reached the bottom of the north side of Dragalj Polje. The terminal moraine develops like a staircase from Polje Dvrsno and can be followed for a few kilometers. It is 140 m high above the bottom of the Polje and made up of limestone rocks and coarse pieces of limestone, many of which are angular and sharp. A huge fluvio-glacial debris cone attaches to the moraine ; Gravel and sand covers almost the entire ground from the village of Dragalj in the NE to the village of Paljkovca in the SW. Here they mix with the fluvio-glacial debris cone of another glacier that came down from the highest mountain of the Orjen to Dvrsno and stopped above the edge of the Poljen. "

climate

Grahovo is in the subtropics. Due to the altitude and the shielding effect of the Orjen Mountains, the climate is more continental. When the pool is closed, frosts are possible all year round. The maritime station Crkvice on the south side of the Orjen , on the other hand, is frost-free from May to September. Continental cold winter air reaches the coastal mountains in winter, as a cold fall wind the bora then flows over the depression of the Poljen into the Bay of Kotor . Frosts with T _min <−28 ° C have been measured in Grahovo at a distance of only 15 km as the crow flies from the Mediterranean Sea. The winter snowpack can therefore last for over two months. The amounts of precipitation reach the highest values in Europe (3500-5000 l per m² and year). Due to the karst nature, the region is still very dry.

Average monthly temperatures and precipitation for Grahovo at 710 m altitude

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C )	6.0	7.0	10.2	14.2	19.4	23.0	26.3	26.4	22.7	17.7	11.7	7.5	O	16.1
Min. Temperature (° C)	-4.7	-3.3	-1.3	2.3	5.7	8.4	10.3	9.5	6.6	3.0	0.0	-3.0	O	2.8

Precipitation ( mm )	345	325	308	245	139	91	52	95	167	378	542	432	Σ	3.119

Rainy days ( d )	11.2	11.0	10.8	11.3	10.2	8.5	6.0	6.6	7.1	9.1	13.2	12.1	Σ	117.1

Source: Source: “Climate of Grahovo (1960–1991)”, website of the Hydrometeorological Institute of Montenegro

station	period	Height [m]	I.	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII	I-XII [T]
Grahovo	1951-1990	710	0.4	1.5	3.9	8.3	13.2	16.7	18.9	18.5	14.5	9.9	5.7	2.3	9.5
Crkvice	1951-1990	940	0.5	1	3.4	7.2	12	15.4	17.9	17.7	14.4	10.0	5.7	2.5	9.0

* Mean monthly and annual temperatures [° C] in Grahovo and Crkvice in Montenegro

station	period	Height [m]	I.	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII	I-XII [mm]
Grahovo	1961-1984	710	351	324	305	251	142	94	55	103	202	416	508	473	3224
Crkvice	1961-1984	940	610	499	503	398	198	135	82	155	295	502	714	683	4774

* Average monthly and annual rainfall [mm] in Grahovo and Crkvice in Montenegro

history

Historically, the region was part of the Ottoman Empire until the late 19th century . Since the military border with Austria-Hungary, which was provided with strong fortifications, was directly south of Grahovo ( Crkvice ), there was an important military garrison in Grahovo. During the Russo-Turkish War , the Montenegrins were able to defeat the Turks on Vucji dol in 1856. The Berlin Congress then guaranteed the Principality of Montenegro independence from the Ottoman Empire.

economy

Koliba in the Orjen . The winter locations are in Grahovo. Mushrooms are dried on the walls and sold to Italy through intermediaries

Traditionally, the inhabitants of Grahovo supply the coastal towns with agricultural products (honey, cheese, meat) and numerous medicinal plants that grow in the surrounding mountains (e.g. savory , cowslip ). The main market for the Montenegrin inhabitants of Grahovo is Risan in the Bay of Kotor . Since the only river of the Montenegrin high karst, the Grahovska reka, lies in Grahovo Polje, this has always been a strategic point between the coast and the inland. The important connecting route between Nikšić , Cetinje and Risan cross the Grahovo polje.

The traditional economy in western Montenegro is the hummingbird economy . With the hummingbird economy, Kayser describes the traditional economy in western Montenegro ( Orjen , Grahovo).

In the hummingbird economy, nomadic characteristics are clear. The Koliba is a well-built milk processing hut, which also serves as a house and is inhabited by the whole farming family or at least most of them during the summer. The winter house in the area of the hourly settlement is either completely abandoned and locked during the summer, or some family members remain there who are not needed for summer grazing. The Koliba stands on or in the vicinity of the summer pasture area and is nothing more than a well-built alpine hut. Where livestock farming is in the foreground of employment and feeding the residents, family life takes place entirely in the Koliba during the summer. The distance of the Koliba from the winter house does not matter at all; even if it is only 10 minutes away, they will move in during the summer and leave the winter house. This shows how much this summer move to the Koliba is one of the most common customs of the Montenegrins. The distances vary greatly between the closest proximity and several hours away, depending on the location of the summer pastures that the milk processing hut follows. In the karst landscape of Grahovo and Orjen , the distances to the hummingbird farming are short, as only the meager bush forest pasture ( Macedonian oak ) on the karst plateaus immediately around the residential property is used.

literature

BEUERMANN, A. 1967: Long-distance grazing in Southeastern Europe - a contribution to the cultural geography of the eastern Mediterranean area - Westermann, Munich.
KAYSER, K. 1931: Westmontenegro - a cultural-geographic representation - Geographical treatises. 4. Stuttgart.
LAZAREVIĆ, R. 1949: Grahovsko polje.- Glasnik Srpskog Geografskog Društva XXIX (2): 143–146, Beograd.

42.651447222222 18.673002777778Coordinates: 42 ° 39 ' N , 18 ° 40' E