This gorge is carved by the Jelasnica river that flows through it. Within the gorge there are 4 natural windows in the rock – “prozorci”, of which one is the window of St. Elijah (Sveti Ilija). Next to the window, on the eastern part of the gorge, is Carevo korito, a trough carved at the top of a cliff. They call the trough “imperial” because they believe in the legend that says that it was carved by Emperor Constantine.
The locals prayed to God on the top of the cliff and Constantine wanted to see why they were gathering at that very place. Delighted by the view from there, he ordered a place to rest and carved a trough in the rock. According to the legend told by Jelasnica residents, the emperor Constantine came to the top of the cliff by stepping over the canvas that was stretched from one side of the gorge to the other. There is a legend that Emperor crossed the canvas from the western to the eastern part of the gorge towards the Emperor’s trough over about 3 km of length, starting from Jelašnica and through the valley. When Constantine would returned from Constantinople, the Emperor always bathed in that trough with healing water from a nearby spring in order to reach the city of Niš clean and well rested.
