Zorlaci, the first urban village in the former Yugoslavia

The village of Zorlaci near Goražde is special for two reasons. First, it is the first urban village in the former Yugoslavia, and second, there is almost no house in the village from which someone has not obtained a higher education at a university around the world, writes the news agency Patria.

Zorlaci, which is about 14 kilometers from the city, was razed to the ground in the early 1990s under the onslaught of the army and police of the Republika Srpska, whose members killed several residents, mostly elderly and frail men and women, and burned their bodies together with the houses to the ground.

The houses in Zorlaci, built of stone and wood, were concentrated around the main village square, tucked almost under the cliffs of the surrounding mountains. The cattle sheds were set away from the village so that their unpleasant smell would not disturb the residents, just as the smokehouses for drying fruit, especially plums, which were abundant in Zorlaci until the appearance of plum pox, were located outside the village.

The plain below the village was used by the residents for sowing crops. The main village water source sprang up in the center of the settlement.

- We are not sure if someone planned the village in this way, but everything indicates that Zorlaci, which originated several hundred years ago, was clearly formed in a modern way that made a lot of sense - they will say today in the village.

The descendants of Zorlaci, 20 or more years later, scattered all over the world, return to the village every year, trying to start life there again. This summer, a mosque was built, the road was previously repaired, and the walls of the old stone houses will soon be conserved and left to bear witness to the difficult times that Zorlaci survived during the last bloody conflicts.  

The hardworking residents of Zorlaci built a mosque in the village this summer (Photo: Amar BIDŽEVIĆ/Patria)

Several families have also returned to the village and stay there throughout the year. They withdrew, they will say, from the center of Goražde and now live there from livestock farming and agriculture. They hope that the village could soon become a tourist oasis for those who long for fresh air, clean water and healthy rural food, writes Patria.