to the city of Ćuprija, for about 3/4 of its length. But, as mentioned before, Velika Morava gets buried under the materials brought by the Južna Morava. When the melioration program began in 1966, it was projected it would become navigable again, in the first phase to Ćuprija, and in the next all the way to Stalać, making it 100% navigable. None of this was accomplished. From time to time, the idea of digging Danube-Morava-Vardar-Aegean Sea a navigable canal pops up in the media. Technical problems of making this waterway would be enormous (neither the Morava nor the Vardar are navigable), the usefulness of its creation is debatable (whether the route would be used much), and the estimated costs are deemed prohibitive. Settlements Although Morava valley has always been the most populous part of Serbia, disastrous floodings prevented people from settling on the river banks itself. The only urban settlement on the river banks is Ćuprija, but it often suffers from floods (including several times in the 1990s). Other urban settlements, built a little further away from the river itself, include: Paraćin, Jagodina, Batočina, Lapovo, Svilajnac, Velika Plana, Požarevac and Smederevo. Smaller places and villages include: Varvarin, Glogovac, Markovac, Veliko Orašje, Miloševac and Lozovik. Tradition The Romans called it Margus (in addition to that, the Zapadna Morava was named Brongus, and Južna Morava was Angrus). The modern-day city of Ćuprija existed in Roman times as Horreum Margi (meaning "The Granary of Margus"). In Serbian history, its valley became the cradle of the modern Serbian state in the beginning of the 19th century (so called "Moravian Serbia"; Moravska Srbija). Many songs were written in celebration of Morava and its fertility, but most of them also talked about casualties and damages done by the river during floods. Songs are even made today about it; the most famous are: Oj Moravo ("Oh, Morava"), Moravo, tija reko ("Morava, you quiet river"), Uz Moravu vetar duva ("Wind blows up the Morava"), Na Moravi vodenica stara ("Old mill on Morava"), Moravac kolo ("Morava kolo"), etc. Oj Moravo may be the most characteristic: 'Oj Moravo, moje selo ravno, Kad si ravno što si vodoplavno Kiša pade, te Morava dođe, Te poplavi moje selo ravno A u selu Jovanove dvore, I u dvoru Jovanovu ljubu' Oh, Morava, my plain village, If it's so plain, why do you flood it Rains came, so Morava rose, And flooded my plain