Day 01
Višegrad, Dobrun Monastery, Drvengrad and Banjska Stena
- Visit Višegrad, a town and municipality located in eastern Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It rests at the confluence of the Drina and the Rzav rivers. The town includes the Ottoman-era Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was popularized by Ivo Andrić in his novel The Bridge on the Drina. The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge is a historic bridge in Višegrad, over the Drina River in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was completed in 1577 by the Ottoman court architect Mimar Sinan on the order of the Grand Vizier Mehmed Paša Sokolović. UNESCO included the bridge in its 2007 World Heritage List. Andrićgrad (Andrić's Town), located near the bridge, is the name of a construction project in Višegrad by film director Emir Kusturica. The town is dedicated to Yugoslav novelist and Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andrić.
- See the Dobrun Monastery (Serbian Cyrillic: Манастир Добрун), located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 12 km from the town of Višegrad, in the gorge of the Rzav River near the border with the Republic of Serbia. Dobrun Monastery is dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin and was built in 1343 by Duke Pribil and his sons Stefan and Petar.
- Go to Drvengrad ("Timber Town"), also known as Küstendorf and Mećavnik, a traditional village that Serbian film director Emir Kusturica built for his film Life Is a Miracle. It is located in the Zlatibor District near the city of Užice, two hundred kilometres southwest of Serbia's capital, Belgrade. It is also near Mokra Gora and Višegrad. This is how Emir Kusturica describes it: "Whoever has never had a home will never have one," said Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and I believe that he who had a home, but lost it, will find it once again. Mećavnik bears the best witness to such thinking, and its openness, hotel services, conference facilities, and schools for the young and old make this little town a unique haven for all those who love nature and culture!"
- See the Šargan Eight, a narrow-gauge heritage railway in Serbia, running from the village of Mokra Gora to Šargan Vitasi station. An extension to Višegrad in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, was finished on 28 August 2010. It was planned to extend the railway to the village of Kremna by the end of 2011 and in 2013 to extend it to the city of Užice.
- The Banjska Stena viewpoint is located 10 kilometres from Mitrovac. The road to the viewpoint is clearly marked, with benches and a safety fence at the top. The name Banjska Stena comes from Banjsko vrelo, a spring at the foot of the viewpoint. The spring was of karst origin, with a water temperature of 4 degrees Celsius. Banja (Turkish for spa, resort) denotes a place with warm water. The citizens of Tara used this water even during the winter because it was always warm. From this viewpoint, admire a wonderful view over Lake Perućac, the Drina Canyon, and the Osata area in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lake Perućac is an artificial lake 52 km long, created by damming the Drina in 1966 to construct the Bajina Bašta hydroelectric plant. Today, the lake is one of the biggest attractions in these parts.
