Can you imagine a place where art doesn’t hang on gallery walls but grows from the ground? Where colors don’t come from a palette, but from flowers, and inspiration isn’t on canvas, but beneath the Bosnian sky?
That is exactly the experience offered by a park in Lužnica, near Visoko, a place where nature and art merge into a harmonious whole. Inspired by Van Gogh’s renowned painting the Starry Night, this park is a realm of emotion, introspection, and connection with the earth.
Many Challenges
The hills are covered in spirals of lavender that, from a bird’s-eye view, mimic the swirling elements of the artist’s work. The bluish tones of the lavender, dense and calming, not only visually recall the famous painting but also, with their scent, create the feeling of stepping into a dream.
Halim Zukić has been developing the idea of this unique space for 21 years, but the turning point came in 2018 when, as he says, fate intervened.
“By a twist of fate, I found myself on a hilltop. On the meadows below, which I intended to turn into a park, I noticed tractor tracks forming spiral shapes. In that moment, it reminded me of Van Gogh’s painting, and I decided to follow that path, despite the many challenges,” explained our host.
And there were many challenges, but today the park spans a remarkable 70 hectares. It contains over 130,000 lavender bushes, 15,000 roses, and tens of thousands of aromatic plants, St. John’s wort, sage, thyme, mint, rosemary… With thousands of planted trees, the landscape is carefully composed like a symphony of colors, shapes, and scents.
“We’re striving to create a synthesis of nature and art; we want to become a place artists will come to. This could become an open-air museum. At the same time, we want to connect young people more deeply with nature, to nurture their sense of nature as well as of art. That will be our mission. In doing so, we’re also improving Bosnia and Herzegovina’s image in the world, because at the heart of the country stands a tribute to a great artist, which says a lot about us and our land,” says Zukić.
The park also includes small lakes, around which life gathers, birds, butterflies, ducks, and other animals. Everything fits into harmony. And the people? They might be the most special part of the place.
The park hosts, led by Halim Zukić, welcomed us with smiles and a glass of homemade lavender juice, carefully prepared as a small gesture of hospitality. With warmth and pride, they introduced every corner of the site. Future plans are ambitious – culinary offerings and entertainment, lodging facilities, a car camping site, educational workshops, and art colonies are already in preparation.
An Open-Air Museum
Nine employees are currently maintaining the park and it will be available to visitors throughout the summer. It is expected that the park will be fully operational by next season, offering all its amenities as a destination that blends leisure, culture, and ecology. We want to share a glimpse of what we saw.
The paths that lead through the park are shaped to follow the “lines of the brush.” Instead of museum silence, here you hear bees buzzing among the flowers, birds chirping, and the wind weaving through the rows of lavender. In summer, when the lavender is in full bloom, the entire space takes on a surreal beauty.
It’s also important to note that the park enchants both local and foreign tourists. For visitors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, it’s a chance to experience something extraordinary in their own country, a blend of familiar landscapes and an artistic vision that connects them to the heart of world cultural heritage. For international guests, it’s an authentic experience that offers much more than the typical tourist package.
Interestingly, guests from the Netherlands have already reserved the location for a wedding ceremony this autumn. Rest is measured by the soul. And this destination offers precisely what the soul seeks – peace, beauty, and a deep, sensory experience. Unusual, unique, and unrepeatable.
So let Visoko and this open-air museum find a place on your must-visit list.
