National Tourism Organization of Serbia, the organizer of the national selection European Destinations of Excellence 2015 - EDEN, at the competition with the topic Tourism and the Local Gastronomy, awarded the first award to the PIROT Municipality. Since the especially focused were the protected geographic origin products, the winning destination competed with the local specialties - Pirot cheese, Pirot flattened sausage, the Old Mountain meals, Pirot grilled meat, the linden leaf filled with meat ('Sarma') and the lamb 'Chomlek'.

Pirot is the gastronomic jewel of Serbia and a very interesting tourism destination.
It offers a special type of hospitality, rarely met anywhere. On the occasion of the EDEN Award, the project with the objective, as declared by Mr. Dejan Crnomarković, EDEN Serbia Project Manager, " To point out the good practice examples and to let the awarded destination become more visible both at the local and European tourism map", the travel journalists visited some of the town sights, organized by the National Tourism Organization of Serbia and the Tourism Organization of the Town of Pirot. The visit includes Ponišavlje Museum, famous as the house of 'Little Rista', built in the traditional urban architecture style of the middle of the 19th century, pronounced for the cultural monument of outstanding importance. A Pirot brand is also the Carpet Manufacturing Craft Cooperative 'The Dame's Heart', where the world famous and recognized Pirot Kilims (Carpets) are manufactured. There, on the spot, one can see how the carpet is created, the wool is prepared and painted and what each pattern means.

    

The Medieval Fortress - Momčilo's Town remembers also some better times and the Archaeological Museum should be certainly visited, as it has got the exhibition "Founding and Development of Pirot from Starčevačka Culture to the Present Time". A Pirot attraction is also the natural beach - the Nišava river, dividing the town to the Tijabar and Pazar sections. The river banks are under the linden row, forming a 3 km long quay. The Sport Center with Swimming Pool contributes to the sport tourism development, while the accommodation facilities construction, including the largest one, Ana Lux Hotel, opens the door for many tourists. At the slopes of Stara Planina (The Old Mountain), at 1080 meters height above the sea level, 12 km far from Pirot, is the picnic point wit the town ski ground and the StarA Hotel. 

    

As declared by Mr. Bratislav Zlatkov, CEO of the Tourism Organization of the Town of Pirot, "Pirot is a small town that attracts at first sight. There are more and more hotels here and accommodation and the main trump of Pirot inhabitants, in addition to the hospitality, is also gastronomy. The EDEN award is recognition, but at the same time also the obligation to preserve quality and expand the promotion of the local brands and local gastronomy. The events, such as the Pirot Flattened  Sausage Fair, for which there is great interest both in Serbia and worldwide, The Old Mountain Meals Festival in Temska or Lamb Festival in Krupac, are the initiator of the gastronomic and tourism offer of Pirot".

ABOUT PIROT About 300 km far from Belgrade and about 380 km from Novi Sad, in the spatial valley, through which the river Nišava flows, surrounded by  the Old Mountain, Vlaške and i Svrljiške Mountains, as well as Dry Mountain, PIROT settled, a settlement of plentiful history, culture and tradition, the previous connection between the Central Europe and Orient. It is located on the Corridor 10, connecting Europe with Asia. PIROT is the administrative center of the largest district in Serbia and the third large as regarding its area.