Zavidovici is a young town dating from the late 19th century. This city has long been known for the large industrial place for wood processing Krivaja and it is rightly named the city of wood. But, they also have significant tourism potential of natural and cultural heritage.
There are Tajan Nature Park, several cultural monuments, tombstones (Bosnian: stecci) and stone spheres.
About 60 stone spheres have been found in the municipality of Zavidovici so far, located in 11 different locations.
The stone spheres phenomenon is rare in the world. Apart from Costa Rica and Mexico, many of them were found in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
The highest concentration, with more than 20 spheres, was found in the village Grab, two kilometers away from Zavidovici. In 2016, the largest stone sphere in the European Union (EU) and possibly in the world, was discovered in Podubravlje. It weighs about 30 tons.
‘’There is a lot to see in Zavidovici. We have a Ginkgo tree, a tree from the dinosaur era, which is rare in the Balkans. It represents the oldest and most durable wood species on the planet. We have a specific ivy that is an endemic species. There are rare animal species that inhabit the Tajan Nature Park area. From the Middle Ages onwards, we have a heritage of various cultures. What characterizes our city are the necropolises of the tombstones in some locations.
There are 16 places in the municipality of Zavidovici. We have two significant sites with tombstones, Bese and Mramorje. More recently, since the arrival of the Austria-Hungary Empire, the development of Zavidovici has been tied to the wood industry.
Some constructed objects have been declared national monuments, such as Vila Krivaja (the administrative building of Krivaja is in the bankruptcy). During this period Rujnica mosque was created, which was also declared a national monument. There are also the medieval Vozucica monastery and the remains of the Udrim monastery,’’ said Muamer Hrvic, culture associate for municipality of Zavidovici.
He was the leader of the workgroup for the drafting of the cultural policy strategy of the Municipality of Zavidovici for the period from 2018 to 2023. Zavidovici Cultural Center is the only cultural institution in the city that deals with the organization of all cultural content.
It was opened in 1956 and during this time, it welcomed several millions of citizens of all ages. The central part of the building has an entrance and a theater hall, with high pillars, which meets the basic public functions. There are offices and a bar around it, and at the back, there is a library and other auxiliary theater rooms, dressing room, and storage.
Various performances, different cultural events and sections are held nowadays at the Cultural Center, and movies currently famous in cinemas around the world are being screened.
‘’During recent years, we have raised the Center repertoire program to a higher level.
Of course, with the support of the Municipality, but also of NGOs. We created an amateur theater and we are proud of the six premieres we had. These are amateur actors of Zavidovici, who stepped on the life stage for the first time in 2017 and have made enviable results. We managed to realize a significant project concerning the maintenance of cultural and historical heritage in the municipality of Zavidovici, and in cooperation with the Embassy of Local Democracy and the ‘Atom’ Science and Research Club we tried to sublimate all the material we have in private collections, gather it in one place and show it to our fellow citizens, but also to those who decide to visit Zavidovici and see what we have to offer,’’said Sanel Jalmanovic, director of the Zavidovici Cultural Center.
He added that they have good cooperation with many BiH theater companies, especially the Bosnian National Theater Zenica, of which 90 percent of their repertoire content, with the approachable price, has been received at the Cultural Center in Zavidovici in recent years, Oslobodenje news portal reports.
