Bosnia and Hercegovina, Blidinje Nature Park and Jablanica – Neverending Road, Beautiful Nature and Some Tidbits of History
The road is getting narrower and goes uphill. Today, we are about to visit Blidinje Nature Park (Park prirode Blidinje). We would love to get to Blidinje lake and make a short trip from there into the surroundings. A road crossing Doljani town should get us to the lake. According to the map, the town is situated 10 kilometers down the road after the first turn off the main road. We plan to travel another 20 kilometers from this town until we reach the lake.
The journey seems endless. After avery turn we hope we reach our destination. A stone road follows the last of hairpin bends. We pray to not to have a flat tire and that our Dacia doesn't give up on us. However, we finally see a wooden board one hill in the distance which would put an end to our adrenalien ride. The board confirms that we are at the right place.
The road is once again layed with asphalt and we renew our hopes in finding the lake. Some few kilometers down the road from the wood board, we finally get the first glimpse of Blidinje lake. It looks rather like a field or marshalnd from afar. This is for its low water surface. On average the lake is only 0,5 meters deep. The maximum depth is up to 3 meters. This is the largest lake in Bosnia and Hercegovina. The lake is of glacier origin. It is situated at the altitude of 1 184 meters. Beautiful flower covered meadows surround this amazing lake. Mountains in the distance add to the scenery.
The Blidinje nature park was founded on April 30, 1995. Here you can see many different plant species, chamoises, and brown bear also counts as a park inhabitant. People go here to visit Dugo polje necropolis, a Franciscan cloister sitting on Plocno mountain, or Risovac ski resort.
Pilgrims go here to Diva Grabovica village the name of which comes after a girl named Diva. She refused to became a wife of a high ranking official. To get rid off him she fled to Grabovica valley. However, the man couldn't bear girl's escape. He found her and murdered her. Her grave is where today's pilgrim go. Unfortunately, classic tourism is quite complicated here in this park. There are not marked trails so far.
Once we saw everything we wanted in Blidnije nature park, we return to the main raod to Jablanica town. This time we are much faster. The town is situated near the Neretva river. Jablanica is worth a short visit or at least a short mention. Between February and March 1943, the fourth German offensive (the Weiss operation) led by Tito was supposed to exterminate partisans in western Bosnia.
Partisans demolished a bridge with a train just crossing it. This conused the Germans and allowed the partisans to continue to Montenegro. The Museum Bitka za ranjenike na Neretvi, which covers an area of 3 square kilometers, was opened here in 1978 to commemorated this event. If you don't feel like to see the museum from inside on a hot summer day, then you can see outdoor diorama which includes the collapsed bridge and a steam engine.
GPS: 43°39'14.4"N 17°45'36.9"E (museum)
Text and photos: Veronika Schubertová
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