The monastery in Kraljeva Sutjeska is one of the biggest tourist pearls of the Zenica-Doboj Canton (ZDC), but also the most valuable, and after two years of work during the coronavirus pandemic, this season it opened its doors to tourists from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Europe.
Not far from Kakanj, in the town of the same name, Kraljeva Sutjeska, there is a Franciscan monastery with a valuable library that preserves some of the most valuable book collections. Although before the coronavirus pandemic there were several thousand visitors per year, during the coronavirus pandemic it was mostly individual and smaller group visits.
But, the fact that that time is already in the past and that tourists and visitors, organized as well as individually, have started to return to Kraljeva Sutjeska is pleasing. Fra Zeljko Brkic, guardian of the Franciscan monastery in Kraljeva Sutjeska, tells that the coronavirus pandemic has really left its mark on the work of the monastery, museum and library.
“Until the year of the pandemic, i.e. 2019, we had visits from neighboring countries, we had a tourist boom, according to our notes the largest number of visitors in the past few years. However, when the pandemic disrupted many things, it also disrupted us, so we respected epidemiological measures and given the small space, we could not receive visitors,” Brkicemphasized.
He added that in 2020 and 2021 they had less than a hundred visits, but that at the beginning of 2022 they start returning to numbers from 2019.
“Our tourist and catering offer is not rich, because 7-8 years ago we had a tourist information office that took on these duties, but with the death of the founder, that ceased to exist. We do not have an offer of souvenirs, drinks and food, so many people only visit the monastery, museum, library, but also the oldest mosque in Kraljeva Sutjeska, which is located in the immediate vicinity,” explains our interlocutor.
It is also interesting that Kraljeva Sutjeska does not even have a store, which is why the locals are forced to buy their food for the home in supermarkets in Kakanj or other nearby places. The mayor of Kakanj, Mirnes Bajtarevic, said in an earlier conversation on the topic of tourism development in Kakanj municipality that the goal is to fix certain things and use the tourist potential of this area.
“Visitors are delighted with the location of the monastery, many emphasize the fact that it is a peaceful place and that many who come here simply come here for that reason. They come here with their families and rest, and often return. This is an opportunity to tell everyone that our door is open,” Brkic concluded.
