Hobbit Houses Spring Up in Bosnia Hills

Marija Milicevic opens a door to a hobbit house named "Ober", in the Bosnian Hobbiton village, Rakova Noga, Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 9, 2023. (Reuters)
Marija Milicevic opens a door to a hobbit house named "Ober", in the Bosnian Hobbiton village, Rakova Noga, Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 9, 2023. (Reuters)
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Hobbit Houses Spring Up in Bosnia Hills

Marija Milicevic opens a door to a hobbit house named "Ober", in the Bosnian Hobbiton village, Rakova Noga, Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 9, 2023. (Reuters)
Marija Milicevic opens a door to a hobbit house named "Ober", in the Bosnian Hobbiton village, Rakova Noga, Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 9, 2023. (Reuters)

Four sisters are building the first Hobbit-style village in southeast Europe in the green hills of central Bosnia, hoping to attract fans of "The Lord of the Rings" books and movies, as well as sharing their childhood memories.

"We have often held family gatherings on this hill and discussed what would be the best way to make use of this view for tourism purposes," said Milijana, the eldest of the Milicevic sisters, pointing to the stunning view of a valley and a lake nestled among the hills.

The Kresevo Hobbiton, as the Hobbits' village is called, is located in the village of Rakova Noga (The Crab's Leg) near the old royal and mining town of Kresevo, some 40 minutes drive from the capital of Sarajevo.

Last year Marija, a 28-year-old geology engineer, proposed to her sisters Milijana, Vedrana and Valentina that they build house in the style of the Hobbit homes in J.R.R. Tolkein's "The Lord of the Rings" tales. The "hole houses" are built into the ground.

The sisters decided that their houses must include characteristics of the area where they live and that each sister would decorate one dwelling as she likes.

They have already built two houses and three others are under construction.

The first house, with a round green door and window, was named Lipa after the village where Milijana had spent most of her childhood with their grandparents. Lipa is also the name for the linden tree.

"Lipa is my nostalgia, the memory of a healthy childhood where garden planting was a social game, domestic animals friends and a tin barrel the Adriatic Sea," Milijana said in the wood-decorated house.

The second house is named Ober after a cave in Kresevo. Its ceiling is decorated with stalactites to provide the feeling of being in the cave.

"Ober in history has been the mine from which Kresevo miners had extracted cinnabar and melted it to get gold," said Marija.

Her house's door and window is painted red after the coloring of the cinnabar ore.

The other three houses, which should be completed soon, will also be named after local attractions.

For example, Bedem, with towers on its corners, is named after the fortress where Bosnia's last queen, Katarina, had stayed while in Kresevo.

Tourists from across the region and other European countries have already started visiting, Marija said.



Egypt, Greece Agree to Protect Status of Mount Sinai Monastery

A general view of St. Catherine's Monastery in South Sinai, Egypt, March 7, 2019. Picture taken March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
A general view of St. Catherine's Monastery in South Sinai, Egypt, March 7, 2019. Picture taken March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
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Egypt, Greece Agree to Protect Status of Mount Sinai Monastery

A general view of St. Catherine's Monastery in South Sinai, Egypt, March 7, 2019. Picture taken March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
A general view of St. Catherine's Monastery in South Sinai, Egypt, March 7, 2019. Picture taken March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo

Greece and Egypt have agreed to safeguard the status of one of the world's oldest sites of Christian worship, foreign ministers of both countries said late on Wednesday, after an Egyptian court ruling last week cast uncertainty over its future.

The St Catherine's Monastery, at the foot of Egypt's Mount Sinai, was founded in the 6th century and is the oldest Christian monastery still in use for its original function, says UNESCO, which has listed the area as a World Heritage site, Reuters reported.

Revered by Christians, Muslims and Jews, the monastery is at the site where by Biblical tradition Moses received the Ten Commandments.

But last week, an Egyptian court ruling seen by Reuters ordered Orthodox monks to vacate several plots of land that the monks have used for years, including vineyards and gardens adjacent to the monastery compound, on the grounds that they were illegally sequestered, prompting a diplomatic flurry between Cairo and Athens over the site's status.

"We agreed in the immediate future to work towards safeguarding the rights of the monastery, as well as its legal status," Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said after meeting his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty in Cairo.

"Both Egypt and Greece intend to move forward based on the long-standing tradition and the already established status of an emblematic monastery for its Greek Orthodox character of worship".

Abdelatty said that the ruling preserves the monastery’s profound spiritual value and religious standing, and confirmed that the monks would continue to have access to and use of the monastery and its religious and historical sites, according to a foreign ministry statement. With a long history of diplomatic ties, Greece and Egypt have deepened cooperation in recent years.

St Catherine's is a sprawling complex, and according to tradition it was built around a burning bush where God was said to have spoken to Moses as described in the Book of Exodus. Its library is one of the most extensive worldwide, containing some of the world's earliest Christian manuscripts.