Sarajevo is surrounded by many natural beauties, and at the reach of the inhabitants of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina and tourists there are numerous mountains, lakes, rivers and beautiful picnic areas. Some of the most famous before the aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina were Stojčevac and Trebević.
In addition to being a natural oasis, Stojčevac was considered an elite resort and one of the favorite places for the holiday of the former SFRY president Josip Broz Tito. The residence on Stojčevac consisted of a main building, intended for guests, and three supporting facilities, which served as a kitchen, and security and other staff, in charge of the maintenance of the villa, accommodation.
Luxury and pageantry
There were also tunnels, intended to be atomic shelter, which reach deep into Mountain Igman. Not far away from there a beautiful resort was arranged, which until the beginning of the 1980s was only used by the guests of villa, and those were exclusively high officials. It was only after Tito’s death that ordinary mortals could enjoy this natural gem.
Unfortunately, from the former exclusive resort surrounded by the beautiful nature, today only ruins remained there, left to the time, drug addicts and vandals. Tito’s residency has fallen into the ranks of collateral victims of non-compliance with state property laws at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although state-level institutions should own it, its legal status is still undefined, and no one is trying to restore it.
Representatives of the Public Institution for Protected Natural Areas of Canton Sarajevo are some of those who at least seek to preserve and clean the greenery and natural beauty around the ruins, so that visitors can enjoy it.
– These days, we had activities on arranging and cleaning Stojčevac. There is also ongoing cleaning of the former villa’s facility, where during the winter months there was a lot of garbage. In the next few days, we will set up new benches and baskets in order to regulate this space as much as we can, and as far as the facilities and their renovations are concerned, we are not in charge here, and nothing will happen until the state level initiates it. Unfortunately, there are still no initiatives. We tried to see what we could do on several occasions, we wanted to conserve at least the tunnel, we wanted to make a tourist attraction from it, but the actual Tito’s villa, from which the tunnel is coming out, every day is deteriorating and the static of the object is broken, which makes use of the tunnel risky. Everything is in a bad state, says Osman Delić, the director of this public institution for Visit B&H.
He regrets that Stojčevac does not shine with the former glow.
Trebević’s Cable Cars
– That complex is abandoned, and there is no such a beautiful place in the Canton, with natural values and with villas. Presidents of Republics from the area of the former Yugoslavia and other officials used to come there, everything was so well arranged. Before the war, I was the commander of youth working activities, then I had to have a good connection to enter this complex, it was elite area. Today, anyone who wants can enter it, but unfortunately you are entering devastated space – said Delić, adding that today the most frequent guests are precisely those curious people from the surrounding countries who are interested in the state of Tito’s villa and the famous excursion site.
While it will obviously take more time for Stojčevac to again become a favorite picnic place in Sarajevo, Trebević is slowly returning the old glow.
Although, the bob track at which the Winter Olympic Games were held in 1984 and many hotels and restaurants never after the war were restored, more and more new contents occupy the attention of Sarajevan and tourists. Several mountain dormitories, catering facilities, sports fields, barbecue houses, and alpine coasters for young people have been opened.
Trebević, also known as the airspace of the capital, is slowly returning to the throne when it comes to favorite Sarajevan picnic areas. In favor of this speaks a renewed cableway, which in April after more than 20 years again began to transport visitors from Sarajevo to the beautiful countryside of this mountain. BH citizens, for which the cable car is of special importance, as well as the foreigners who were among the first to take the ride, were delighted with the ride and a spectacular view of our city.