Mysterious tomb emerges from Serb lake: Last name Vucinic and number 1913 inscribed on it (PHOTO)

When you travel from Gacko through Bileca, towards Trebinje and Herceg Novi, a vast water surface - that of Bileca Lake - suddenly comes into view. It's located on the Trebisnjica River in the Serb Republic. What sets it apart from many other lakes is the way it was created and the great secret it hides.

This artificial lake was created when the Grancarevo Dam was built on the Trebisnjica River near the city in 1968. The dam is 123 meters tall and 439 meters wide at the top.

Recommended

At the bottom of the lake lie abandoned villages, which were evacuated during the construction of the Trebinje hydroelectric power plant. As water levels rose, houses and farms in the villages of Panik, Orah, Cepelica, Zadublje and Mirussa were all flooded.

Together with the villages, water flooded monuments of the past: cemeteries, roads and churches. Among them is the Kosijerevo Monastery, as well as many cultural and historical monuments.

It was precisely there that this photo was taken. Vladimir Cubrilo took it several years ago, when the lake waters receded. This year they rose, keeping the same grave deep inside.

"The tomb of Vucinic (first name illegible)... passed away in 1913. As water levels dropped, a cemetery emerged. I often imagine what a town of Bileca would be if like if it grew here, on the Trebisnjica River, what's today a lake. Older people say they had everything, a hard life, but also fish, fruit, vegetables, clean air, water, and freedom. When the works began to build the the dam, they had to leave their homes. Did people start moving out of Bileca at that time already? All that remains is a tombstone that occasionally emerges from the water to cast a glance at its land, and then return to its river again," Cubrilo wrote, along with the photograph.

An entire settlement is at the bottom of this lake, preserving in itself the spirit of the past, and which could tell a bunch of amazing stories.

Due to the construction of the Grancarevo Dam on the Trebisnjica and the creation of the Bileca Lake reservoir, the Kosijerevo Monastery was moved to a new location in the village of Petrovici in Banjani. The shrine had about 3,000 hectares of land, its own mills, and a hospital within its yard.

After 1946, then communist authorities confiscated almost all of its property, and after the relocation of the monastery, only a small yard and half a hectare of barren land remained.

As for the Bileca Lake, it, like the entire Trebisnjica basin, is rich in exceptional diving sites. This lake is extremely popular with sports divers who can see entire villages in its depths - houses, roads, churches, cemeteries, but also a fantastic karst underwater relief.

In addition to divers, the lake is also a favorite fishing destination.

But not only that - many Bileca residents and travelers love to swim there in the summer, because it feels like the sea, only one with fresh water.

Video: Belgrade's 10 hidden lakes

(Telegraf.rs)