Milanovo-Staro selo-Svrazhen

The route starts from the center of the village of Milanovo. It starts from the square along a street that goes straight east (this is the right street of the two that split at an acute angle). Moving along the winding Staroselska Street, we gradually climb and reach a T-shaped intersection. There we turn left and immediately after that, on the right between the village yards, an unpaved road begins. The road is often muddy and with flooded ruts. After only about 200 meters, the road begins to gradually get lost and when entering a sloping meadow it already turns into a path.

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  At the lower end of the meadow there is a never-ending fountain. After it the path enters a steep valley, moving along its left slope. Here in the spring you can see various orchids and other forest flowers. After another ten minutes of walking along the rocky path, the houses of the Staro Selo hamlet appear in front of us. We enter the bushes again and after a while we are already in the center of the abandoned hamlet. Now there are no permanent residents in it, but in the past the village of Osikovo (now Milanovo) arose here, and the meadow where the path exits used to be a school. The walk here takes a little more than half an hour. As soon as you get off at the first house in Staro Selo you will see a dirt road. To the right, 30m away, is the village fountain, and the route continues to the left. After 20m you will see a crossroads. To the left, the road climbs back to Milanovo, and to the left, it heads towards the more distant hamlets of the village. In 5 minutes you reach a vast meadow with a gazebo next to the road. There is the medieval church "St. Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos". It has been restored, and the partially preserved frescoes have been cleaned and preserved. Very soon after the church we have to leave the road to the right through the meadows. Going down diagonally without a path, we reach the bushes at the bottom of the valley. There is a gap between the bushes and we can cross it and climb a little on the opposite slope. A short passage through an overgrown meadow parallel to the valley follows. To the south, the meadow narrows. In the narrowest part, the path is already visible. Soon it widens and briefly turns into an old cart path surrounded on top by the remains of stone walls. Further on, there is only a descent along the valley with the sonorous name Sapachur all the way to the road by the Iskar River. We enter a forest and after a few minutes we can already hear the water flowing to our left. The path briefly emerges into a heavily overgrown meadow with an old bench and an information sign. After it, we have to cross the stream for the first time. Up to here we have covered about 2/3 of the route. After 5 minutes there is a second bridge. Right here, another one flows into the stream from the left and the trail continues downstream. From here on, there are no branches and there is no way to make a mistake. Prepare for 6 stream crossings without bridges. The trail is almost entirely in the forest. You will pass by the remains of a watermill, an old lime kiln and several catchments. Only at the end (a minute before you reach the road) will you cross a bridge.
  In spring, the stream is quite full and crossing it can be a challenge. Bring poles, they help. In summer, the water is lost in places and crossing without a bridge is not a problem. The section immediately after the fountain (between Milanovo and Staro Selo) is quite overgrown with grass in the summer and the trail is almost invisible. If you decide, you can go down to Staro Selo instead of the trail along a dirt road about 2km long, which leads straight to the church. To do this, instead of taking the trail, continue another 50m along the street and at the first left turn you will see the dirt road, which starts on the right of the asphalt and goes steeply down.
  After the church in the Staro Selo hamlet, after separating from the road, there is a section of about 500m, which is heavily overgrown with tall grass and in the summer the trail is not visible at all. Follow the GPS track and the instructions and you will soon be on the trail.

Duration:

2:20 hours

Length:

5.9km