On summer days, this place offers relief from the heat. By evening — from boredom.
These photos are a natural follow-up to yesterday’s post about walking around Zlatibor Lake. A year before that walk, I found myself here almost by chance — late in the evening, just needing a place to stay for the night. I ended up staying at a hotel by the water, and even then, the place left a mark on me.
At night, Zlatibor Lake — which locals simply call «the pond» — takes on a different life. By day, it offers cool shade beneath the trees. After sunset, the lights come on, and the real show begins.
The fountains in the center rise and fall in steady rhythms, shifting through colors, while the tiny jets built into the railings turn into continuous lines of light. Water, light, and the dark sky blend into strange, almost hypnotic patterns.
Lamps flicker on across the square, evening crowds gather in the cafés, but the real focus is right by the water. Blue, green, and warm yellow lights shimmer on the dark surface, while the surrounding pines stand like near-black silhouettes.
And this isn’t just a set of decorative fountains — it’s a full multimedia system. At certain moments, what looks like a screen made of water mist forms above the pond, created by countless fine jets, while lasers, light, and music fill the air. Images are projected onto it, and even live concerts are streamed.
That night, when I was there, there was an abstract laser show set to Faithless — and yes, of course, it started with Insomnia. But this is something you really have to see in person: no photograph can capture that combination of light, water, and sound.
So by day, you stroll along the cool promenade. By night, you can settle into one of the cafés on the square and simply watch as water and light turn into a performance.
Same pond. Same place. But after dark, it becomes a completely different story. In my case, it’s a story of how an unplanned overnight stop can turn into a reason to come back again.
