Golija

| 04 February 2009 | By Zoran Maksimovic

Golija

“Oh Golija, oh the only one, you, the most beautiful of mountains...”

Once echoing from the throats of highlanders, today this song is known only by a few in the desolate villages at the foot of Golija. But people still believe that Golija is one of the most beautiful mountains in Serbia, and nature lovers visit it time and again precisely for that beauty.

The only accommodation at the town of Odvracenica, near the mountain, Hotel Golija, had many guests this winter, and was sold out during the New Year’s holidays. It has tourists even now, although there is not enough snow for skiing.

“We are satisfied with the bookings this winter, despite the fact that there is not enough snow. We have
more and more guests each year. The tourists are mostly coming from Vojvodina and Belgrade,” says the owner of the hotel, Golub Pendic.

He says that there are almost no foreign tourists, because nothing has been done to promote the mountain. Domestic visitor numbers are booming, mainly through word of mouth recommendations by people who have already enjoyed the beauty of Golija.

You can reach this unspoiled attraction via Raska, or Novi Pazar, an hour long drive on an asphalt road. Hotel Golija can accommodate 110 guests in two-bed and three-bed rooms and apartments. All the rooms have en suite bathrooms, television sets and balconies with beautiful views. The ground-floor restaurant has 100 seats and is furnished with wooden furniture, fully decorated with traditional wooden objects and tools for work in the home or the field.

Guests usually spend their nights by the fire. They say you can have a true impression of the hotel only once you have tasted its food, which is truly domestic and made according to traditional recipes.
Near the hotel is a children’s amusement park, where parents have a place of their own to relax while they watch over their kids.

Bungalows in the vicinity of the hotel give special meaning to the idea of resting in the mountains. Each has three beds and a bathroom, as well as a mini collection of traditional objects from the region’s rich culture. For younger visitors, the Amphitheatre in Smrcevak is of
special interest and has a number of educational programs about the environment.

Semi-pension in Hotel Golija costs 1,800 dinars, while the full pension is 2,050 dinars. The price of a ski pass is 500 dinars. There are three ski lifts and seven tracks ranging between 600 and 1,200 metres long.

“This winter, I was at Brezovica and Kopaonik, but I liked it better here. All the tracks are very good and exactly the way skiers love them,” says Dalibor Stefanovic, one of the many citizens of Novi Pazar who come to the nearby mountain to ski during the day.

Those who like long walks and hiking can opt to follow the ‘health track’ or the clearly marked 8.6 kilometres-long cobbled road leading from the hotel directly to the top to Jankov Kamen (1,834 metres above sea-level), a place which offers an extraordinary view of the whole region. On one side is Pester frozen in ice, on the other is beautiful Kopaonik, while in the distance you can glimpse Montenegrin and Albanian mountains.

“Agrotourism is still not developed, and only a few families take in tourists in the villages at the foot of Golija. A categorization of their accommodation capacities is expected soon. We need to educate these people and have a good marketing strategy,” says the director of the Tourist Organization in Novi Pazar, Jovan Josic.

Josic stresses that tourists who come to this mountain can visit numerous cultural and historical monuments as well. The Djurdjevi Stupovi monastery, erected by the founder of the first Serbian state Stevan Nemanja in the 12th century, and Sopocani monastery, built by King Uros I between 1263 and 1268, are both on the UNESCO heritage list.

Tourists should not miss the unique Peter’s Church, one of the oldest Christian buildings in the Balkans, the old town of Ras, one of the first capitals of the medieval Serbian state of Rashka, as well as jewels of Islamic architecture such as the 16th century Altun-alem mosque and the Arap mosque. A short drive away, visitors can see Stara and Nova Pavlica, Konculj, as well as the medieval Maglic fortress whose seven towers and dungeon have been partially restored.

However Golija is still a work in progress with questions remailning over how effectively the local government can control new contruction.

A master infrastructure plan has been drafted but still has not been implemented and, in the meantime, illegal housing is popping up everywhere. On the plus side, the state is currently building a Visitor Centre at Odvracenica and aims to solve infrastructure problems through focused investment on new hiking and running tracks, parking space and wooden bungalows. Almost 80 per cent of the scheduled work has already been done.