Never, as on these icy days, while I walk through the streets of the city bound by ice, and while the cold wind further brings the cold under my skin, I am not pleased to recall one warm day, when I was looking for a place where I could refresh myself due to the great heat.
The place I found that day, while I was driving along the Herzegovinian roads from Mostar to Trebinje, remained forever in my memory as a beautiful, heavenly place.
I will share with you pictures from which you can be convinced of his magical beauty and this Friday, tag him #TBF because he is worth remembering.
Blagaj and the spring of the Buna river
Beneath the over 200m high cliff, springs the Buna river.
This spring is one of the strongest karst springs in Europe.
With a water capacity of about 43 m³ per second, and a water temperature of about 7°C, the stone surroundings of this spring represent a place where it is possible to cool off in the hot days of the Herzegovinian summer.
Blagaj Tekija (Dervish Inn) is located directly from the opening in the cliff from which the Buna River springs.
This building, built in the Ottoman-Mediterranean style, from 1520 represents a dervish monastery, which was used for dervish prayer and meditation.
Today, that building is a cultural monument of national significance.
The priority of visiting this place was to cool down and refresh myself, so I didn't have time to enter and tour Tekija, and from the information boards, I found out that I probably wouldn't be allowed to enter, since I wasn't dressed according to the rules (I was wearing shorts).
It is interesting that in the building, in addition to prayer rooms, baths (hammams) and guest rooms, there is also a turbe (mausoleum) in which dervishes are buried.
After photographing these beautiful shots and refreshments at one of the restaurants on the banks of the Buna River, when we headed to the car, I noticed the stairs leading up the hill.
I was too late to check the information, and I found out that above the spring of the Buna river, right on this cliff, there is a medieval town, the old town of Blagaj (also known as Stjepan-town), which I will certainly visit if I ever repeat the tour of the spring of the Buna.
Then it must be a less hellish day, than this one when I was cooling off next to the ice water, because in order to reach the medieval city on the cliff, it is necessary to walk uphill for up to 45 minutes.
But it's probably worth it, because the waiters in the restaurant tell me that from Stjepan-grad there is a fantastic view of the entire Neretva river valley (whose course we followed from Mostar) and the mountains in the distance.
I'm sharing this diamond with you in #worldmappin, and I'm leaving it as a reminder to come back to this place again and again.