If one can boast of its hunting and fishing tourism, surely it is the municipality of Mali Zvornik!
They have a real fortune for fishermen of all kinds, and are unique in that they are the only ones with a fishing trail in the entire Balkan Peninsula.
We were talking about fishing tourism and other tourism potentials of Mali Zvornik with the Mayor of the municipality, mr Zoran Jevtic.
- Our fishing tourism is certainly the strongest in this area. We have the Drina River, a lake, and the hydroelectric power plant built in the former Yugoslavia is the only one that has a fish trail. At the time of the spawn, it opens and the fish from the Drina flows into the lake. In this way the quality of the lake is maintained naturally. The Drina is one of the cleanest rivers, it is the fastest in Europe and has all the freshwater fish species – says Jevtic.
Particularly interesting is the huchen – a protected and endemic species of fish, which can be found right here in the Drina and the lake, and also in rivers Lim and Tara.
- One of the proofs of how clean the Drina water is is the presence of otters in it. We know that otters do not go into polluted and dirty water, but only into the cleanest rivers. Drina is recognizable for its green and emerald water, so its first name was Zelenika (green river) – says Jevtic.
Mali Zvornik has especially good hunting grounds.
- They are managed by the local hunting association “Crni vrh”, and the hunting area is spread over about 18 thousand hectares. Of these, 16 thousand are forests and meadows, and two thousand acres are under water. Because of these great potentials, hunting tourism is highly developed – says Jevtic.
Jevtic speaks about other tourist offers as well, and emphasizes the Radalj Spa.
– It treats everything that the Koviljaca Spa does, plus diabetes and eye diseases. It is less urban, so it is the perfect place for people who want peace, long walks through the paths of health, hills and lookouts or a fine recreation in cycling tours. We are doing a lot of work to improve tourism, because tourism is certainly an economic branch in which the whole of Serbia has a bright future, and therefore our municipality – says Jevtic, adding that they have recently embarked on congress tourism that is very successful.
THE STONE GIRL – THE PRIDE OF MALI ZVORNIK
In addition to event tourism, spa tourism, hunting and fishing tourism, Mali Zvornik has a rarity that is absolutely unique and they are definitely proud of it. This is the underground city of Karadjordjevic.
- It is the only facility of its kind and was built by the Karadjordjevic royal family. It was made under the code and is called “Stone Girl”. It was planned and arranged to be the king’s command post. It was built from 1930 to 1934 and could accommodate from three to five thousand people during the war. It has 12 entrances and exits, and it was here that from 9 to 12 April 1941, his last days were spent by his Highness, the young King Peter II Karadjordjevic – Jevtic recounts. It was at this place that the last sitting of the Government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia took place on the night between 10 and 11 April 1941.
– Why was Mali Zvornik chosen for something like this? It is a question few know the answer to. Mali Zvornik was chosen as the geographical center of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and therefore the most convenient place to build a king’s war command post – reveals Jevtic.
The highest representatives of the country also visited the Underground City.
- Tourism Minister Rasim Ljajic was on a visit once, once when we were doing the project and then when the Underground City was rebuilt. It was officially inaugurated by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, along with Minister Ljajic. On this occasion we talked about the adaptation of the Underground City. The building is huge, it has five thousand square meters and we see our big chance here, because we think that “Stone Girl” will be a tourist brand of the whole of Serbia, not just the municipality of Mali Zvornik. That is why it is said that the most important thing is to have a destination, and we have it and it is completely unique – says Jevtic. The plans are, he added, to create the highest quality content for tourists in the future.
- This means that when a tourist comes, he can spend a good part of the day here, which means he has something to see, to have a place to sit, to have some lunch, to buy stuff. There is a lot of funding to keep the Underground City going, and it is not possible to pay for all of it from the tickets that are charged, so we have to figure out how and what else would expand there. That is why in the second part of the project we designed to build a restaurant from the 1930s and 1940s, as well as shops, a gift shop, warehouses and wine cellars. The temperature is 14 to 16 degrees in winter and summer, which is ideal for wine cellars – says Jevtic. The idea is also to create a museum exhibition, to open a congress hall, a cinema, all with the aim that tourists, local and foreign, can have a complete experience and comfort.
This text is part of the project “Mali Zvornik – Big Heart of the Drina” and was co-financed by the Municipality of Mali Zvornik. The views in the text are not those of the municipality.
(Come to Serbia)