Tito's bunker, D-0 ARK
THE BEST KEPT SECRET OF THE SFR Yugoslavia
The Best Kept Secret of SFR Yugoslavia, facility D-0, with the code name “Istanbul” and later nicknames “Army’s Reserve Command”, “Atomic War Command” and “Tito’s bunker”, was built in complete secrecy over the course of 26 years – between 1953 and 1979. The construction costs amounted to 4.6 billion US dollars, which would today equal to more than 10 billion US dollars. Located near the town of Konjic in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is known as the third biggest investment of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The core purpose of the Object D-0 ARK was to take in, accommodate and protect Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito and members of Headquarters of the Supreme Command, the Presidency and the Government of Yugoslavia, and enable their successful management and command over the armed forces in case of countrycrisis and nuclear warfare.
The construction of the object began in 1953, as decided by the highest-ranking commanders of the former Yugoslav People’s Army. The information about the object was known only to Tito himself, Chief of Federal Secretary of People’s Defense (SSNO), Chief of Headquarters of Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), Chief of State Security Administration, and Chief of Communications of Federal Secretary of People’s Defense. In 1979 the object was officially handed to the crew of former JNA, which consisted of 16 officers.
The complete secrecy of D-0 was kept until after the breakup of Yugoslavia – in 1992, when the Yugoslav Peoples’ Army soldiers left the object and handed it over to Territorial Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and later Army of B&H and Armed Forces of B&H.
However, the veil of secrecy still heavily surrounded the object up until 2000, when guided tours became available only for diplomats in B&H who were given a special permission of the Ministry of Defense of B&H.
Guided tours for general public became available only in 2011, when Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in presence of NATO, proclaimed that the object had no military perspective, everything moved by the idea of contemporary art project called “Biennial D-0 ARK Underground” which was implemented for the first time and proclaimed as cultural event of Europe by European Council.
From that moment on, the object whose infrastructure is preserved intact with all its symbols of the social, economic, political and ideological system of Socialist Republic Yugoslavia and up-to-date technology of the past, opened its doors to visits from all around the world.
The D-0 ARK offers guided visits on each week day, in the following hours:
Paravūr Monday to Friday at 10, 12 am and 2 pm
For groups with 10 or less people there is no need for reservation, just you need to show up in front of the bunker at scheduled time. For groups with more then 10 persons we can reserve tours in period 9 am till 4 pm every day.
Partisan Memorial Cemetery at Musala
The Partisan Memorial Cemetery is located below the Zlatar hill, between today’s city cemetery, which was formed in 1882 and the Neretva river. According to the „musala“ that was in this place until World War II, this whole area is called Musala.
Today, a memorial to fallen soldiers is located in this western part of the site. The monument consists of: a cube of a memorial ossuary, a free-standing high obelisk and plaques bearing the names of fallen soldiers. On the front of the memorial ossuary is a mosaic above which, on the frame of black granite, is engraved the text: MEMORIAL OSSUARY.
Ambiental unit - Old core of Konjic and Varda settlement
The Old Town of Konjic is located close to all the major tourist attractions in the city of Konjic. It is located on the left shore of the Neretva River and is adorned with the old town districts, the Carsija and Vardacka Mosque, the Orthodox Church of St. Vasilije Veliki in Varda, a new promenade along the Neretva River, a stone castle on Varda and certainly ambient inevitable tombstones in the Park on Varda below the Vardacka Mosque.
To the left of the Konjic Bridge, visitors can take a detour to the attractive Old Town, stop by the Native Museum, Zuko Dzumhur House, and the Tekijska Mosque. The rich cultural and historical heritage of the Old Town of Konjic is further enriched by the natural attraction of the Neretva River, which connects the Old Town with the center and construction from the Austro-Hungarian and modern period. In addition to the Neretva, they are connected by the Old Konjic Bridge, a link between the left and right shore of Konjic.
Konjic Bridge
The first bridge on the Neretva River in Konjic was built by the Mostar legator Hadzi Mehmed-bey Karadjoz before 1570. In the vakufnama of Zaim Hadzi Mehmed-bey, Karadjoz-bey from 1570, among other of his endowments is mentioned the bridge in Konjic. This is the first concrete archival record of the Konjic Bridge. The Karadjoz-bey Mosque in Konjic was wooden and stood 15-20 m lower than the later stone bridge. This bridge was demolished in 1659 or 1660 from an inscription on the Sulejman Pasa Mosque (Prkanj Mosque), which states that the bridge was demolished in 1660, at the beginning of the November. At the end of June 1665 the bridge was repaired and was again operational, as can be seen from the travelogue of Evlija Celebija. This repaired masonry has been in use for 17 years, because in 1682 a new stone masonry was built, slightly above the wooden one, as can be seen from the inscription on the construction of the bridge.
It can be established that the stone bridge in Konjic was built by Haseci Ali-aga. This ferman was found by Hivzija Hasandedic in the Oriental Collection of the Franciscan Provinces of Herzegovina“. The first record of the Konjic bridge was made by Giacomo Luccari back in 1790. Another record of the Konjic stone bridge was made by English architect and travel writer Arthur John Ewans in 1875 when traveling through Konjic.
On March 3, 1945, while retreating to secure the withdrawal of German troops from the partisan environment, half of the stone bridge was demolished by the bombing of the Pioneer Unit of the 3rd Battalion of the 370th Grenadier Regiment of Wermacht, with only pillars remaining.
The Konjic bridge was the finest example of this type of building from the second half of the seventeenth century, which stylistically and architecturally represents the decline of the art construction of the sixteenth century, and whose decadent phase in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries is represented by local builders.
On May 12, 2006, the foundation stone was laid for the reconstruction of this bridge. After three years of work, the Turkish Development Agency „TIKA“ and Konjic Municipality have completely reconstructed this bridge and officially opened it on June 16, 2009.
Zuko Dzumhur's House
It is one of the departments of Heritage Museum of Konjic and contains authentic furniture made by Konjic woodcarvers and decorated with beautiful traditional motifs. The museum exhibits Zulfikar Zuko Dzumhur’s original costumes, many literary materials, published and unpublished by Zuko Dzumhur, his family, all the way to photographs featuring the most prominent Zuko’s friends, writers and numerous artists he encountered throughout his life. As part of the visit to the Heritage Museum, it is organized at the request of guests and visit to the Zuko Dzhumhur’s Native House.
Heritage Musem Konjic
The Heritage Museum is located next to the Stone Bridge, in the heart of the old town of Konjic. The museum primarily contributes to the development of tourism in Konjic, and has a significant impact on the economic development of the municipality, development of the local community and the improvement of communication between citizens, tourists, institutions, local communities and non-governmental organizations. Also, the Heritage Museum further contributes to the development of the old Konjic city core and promotes, protects cultural and historical heritage, including old crafts. The museum organizes various cultural events, including exhibitions and presentations. For all visitors, the Museum offers an ethnographic and historical collection as well as a gallery space for various exhibitions.
The Heritage Museum Konjic is the youngest museum institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina and it was opened in 2011. The object itself, however, is much older. In the Ottoman period the building was an integral part of the han, and in the Austro-Hungarian period it housed a woodcarving craft. In former Yugoslavia, it was the firehouse building. Before becoming a museum, the building was completely renovated and adapted to the contemporary museum space. Within the museum there is a permanent ethnographic exhibit, an archeological section, a gallery space, a native library and the aforementioned Zuko’s Native house, which acts as an department of the museum. As host points out, it is no accident that the Heritage Museum is located in the heart of the historic core of Konjic on the left shore, next to the Stone Bridge, which is a symbol of the city.
WOODCARVING MUSEUM
The Heritage Museum is located next to the Stone Bridge, in the heart of the old town of Konjic. The museum primarily contributes to the development of tourism in Konjic, and has a significant impact on the economic development of the municipality, development of the local community and the improvement of communication between citizens, tourists, institutions, local communities and non-governmental organizations. Also, the Heritage Museum further contributes to the development of the old Konjic city core and promotes, protects cultural and historical heritage, including old crafts. The museum organizes various cultural events, including exhibitions and presentations. For all visitors, the Museum offers an ethnographic and historical collection as well as a gallery space for various exhibitions.
The history of woodcarving tradition started more than a century ago when Abudalah – Gano Nikšić, the great grandfather of Zanat’s founders, Orhan and Adem Nikšić, stumbled upon what once was a primitive hand-carving technique that originated from a small village close to our hometown of Konjic, just south of Sarajevo on the Neretva River. Gano learned the carving technique from some pioneer woodcarver-entrepreneurs who (thanks to visionary educational support of the Austro-Hungarian empire’s regime that ruled Bosnia at the time) perfected the village technique beyond recognition and teamed up with already established furniture producers in Sarajevo, such as Buttazoni-Venturini, who exhibited hand-carved furniture pieces at fairs and exhibitions in Milan, Paris (Millennium exhibition of 1900), Vienna.
Gano passed his skills down to his sons Salih, Meho, Adem and Asim. Salih opened the first woodcarving business in the Nikšić family in 1919 and trained his younger brothers. Adem, the most entrepreneurial of all, took over the company in 1927 and built a reputable export business.
On December 6, 2017, the Konjic woodcarving technique perfected and preserved to a large extent by our family was officially inscribed onto the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.
Lukomir Village
The cultural landscape of the village of Lukomir (Gornji Lukomir) was created by human activity in extremely inhospitable high mountain areas. Built at an altitude of approximately 1472 m during 6 months of the year, due to snow drifts, the village of Lukomir is one of the most isolated villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The village of Lukomir is unique for its stone houses covered with cherry wood shingles. It is impossible to reach the village, already with the arrival of the first snow in December, until sometime in April and sometimes longer except on skis or on foot. From here, it is possible to hike along a cliff above the Rakitnica River Canyon, some 800 meters below Lukomir. Lukomir is known for its traditional clothing, and today women still wear knit garments that were worn several centuries ago.
The village of Gornji Lukomir is located on the mountain Bjelasnica, in a landscape of exceptional beauty and with a high degree of biodiversity of flora and fauna. The continuity of life in this area is evidenced by 27 medieval tombstones. The most significant feature of the village Lukomir is its vernacular architecture – created in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and according to a completely unchanged model of houses from a much earlier time, which reflects the fact that the way of life, land cultivation and livestock farming has not changed significantly in the village until the war in 1992.
The village of Lukomir is about 50 km from Sarajevo and 35 km from Konjic. It is located on the cliff of Rakitnica Canyon at an altitude of 1472 m, between two peaks, Lovnica (1856 m hight) and Obalj (1896m height).
The village of Čuhovići
The cultural landscape of the village of Lukomir (Gornji Lukomir) was created by human activity in extremely inhospitable high mountain areas. Built at an altitude of approximately 1472 m during 6 months of the year, due to snow drifts, the village of Lukomir is one of the most isolated villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The village of Lukomir is unique for its stone houses covered with cherry wood shingles. It is impossible to reach the village, already with the arrival of the first snow in December, until sometime in April and sometimes longer except on skis or on foot. From here, it is possible to hike along a cliff above the Rakitnica River Canyon, some 800 meters below Lukomir. Lukomir is known for its traditional clothing, and today women still wear knit garments that were worn several centuries ago.
The village of Čuhovići is positioned on the southern slopes of Bjelasnica and it belongs to the municipality of Konjic. In the earliest Turkish sources, we find this settlement under a slightly changed name – Čukovići. During high snows, the village is cut off from the rest of the world due to its specific geographical location, in 2013 they were cut off for more than two months.