Dressed in traditional folk attire, Ramiz Fatic welcomes tourists to his establishment in Umoljani, a village on the southern slopes of Mount Bjelasnica, offering them a taste of Bosnian and Herzegovinian (BiH) tradition and gastronomy.
This 70-year-old left his homeland as a child, traveled the world, but never forgot where he came from. The desire to return was always there.
“I could have stayed abroad, but I didn’t. A man without a homeland is like a newborn without a mother,” says Fatic.
In recent years, he has proudly welcomed travelers, passersby, and visitors, hosting them and always taking the time to share something about Umoljani’s customs, life, and region.
Healthy food and good spirits
“I have been in hospitality for fifty years. I had a business in Sarajevo, where I used to make up to 500 kilograms of burek daily. Now, I welcome tourists from all over the world here. Everyone leaves satisfied because we serve them healthy food and are in good spirits,” said Fatic.
The specialty at his establishment is veal burek.
“Many Arabs come for “pita” (pie). When they have to fly to Dubai, they order and take it with them,” he shared.
Umoljani is situated at an altitude of 1.353 meters and is one of the few mountain villages where life continues even during the harsh Bjelasnica winters.
Mosque as a national monument
Not all residents stay through the winter, as snowfall has sometimes reached several meters in height.
A paradise for the eyes and rest for the soul, Umoljani today, according to its residents, is not the same mountain village they remember. Part of its authenticity was lost when it was completely burned down in 1993 during the aggression on BiH.
The mosque in Umoljani, whose exact construction date is unknown, was the only structure preserved, with local residents believing it was “saved by a Serbian soldier who refused to set it on fire.” It has been declared a national monument of BiH.
The village has been rebuilt, but not in its original form. Gone are the shingle roofs, stone houses, and village paths; in their place are modern houses made of new construction materials, with asphalt roads running through the village. There is street lighting, and houses are connected to the electrical grid.
Umoljani can be reached via a road from Sarajevo, passing through the Olympic Center Bjelasnica, winding through beautiful forest landscapes and scenery that is especially enchanting under a blanket of snow. An unusual sense of peace and tranquility is felt upon entering the village.
Until the mid-1980s, the people of Umoljani lived off livestock farming and agriculture.
“Before the unfortunate war, there were 50 households in the village; it was a livestock-rearing region. Now, mountain rural tourism prevails. Only seven or eight households remain through the winter. However, in the summer, the village is full,” Fatic said.
He emphasized that this region is a natural air spa, as “blood test results change after 14 days of stay.”
Stecak Necropolis and the legend of the name
At the entrance to the village lies a necropolis of stecak tombstones, the Petrified Dragon, and the winding Studeni Potok stream.
There are two versions of the story of how Umoljani got its name.
One suggests that herders from Hum in Herzegovina used to bring their livestock here for summer grazing, and some of them stayed.
According to the other, “a dragon emerged from the Rakitnica Canyon, which is three kilometers from the village, and slithered through Studeni Potok, intending to devour the inhabitants.” When the people saw it, they retreated to Posiljak Hill and began to pray, pleading for the dragon to turn to stone. Legend has it that the petrified beast’s shape can still be seen at that spot today, AA writes.
