Tuzla – City of Salt

There are many cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina with historical attractions. And out of all of them, I chose Tuzla, the city of salt. I will describe to You that charming city and invite you to visit Tuzla. This beautiful city is located in the northeastern part of Bosnia, settled just underneath the Majevica mountain range, on the Jala River.

I will not talk about the war that happened 25 years ago, but we all should remember Tuzla Gate (called Kapija).

I’m going to introduce you to the history of Tuzla. I tell you that Tuzla is one of the oldest settlements in Europe with continuity of living. Proof of this are the remains of the old lake-dwelling settlement from Neolithic times. The Name of the comes from the Turkish word Tuz, which means salt.

 
 

I woke up early that day. We were supposed to go on a trip. It wasn’t a fun trip, but rather disturbing one. My aunt was supposed to go to a hospital. At that moment, that was all I knew abut Tuzla.

It was famous in Bihac, my city, because many our citizens were going there to famous hospital. My feelings about Tuzla were mixed. On one hand I hated Tuzla, because it was far from Bihac and my lovely aunt wasn’t feeling well, and on the other hand I loved it because the doctors will help her.

It was early morning when we arrived in Tuzla. The sky was still grey, but fog was slowly disappearing. Tuzla was quite different from Bihac. I was used to blue sky, wide green river and greenery of Bihac. My first impression was not positive, but here are many reasons why I later started loving Tuzla.

The entrance to Tuzla was marked with factory towers. This is probably one of the most prominent facts about Tuzla. In a country where most factories are closed, Tuzla is a bright example of how, with effort, you can maintain the industry.

Based on that, the entire community in Tuzla is more developed than many others cities in BIH. Like I mentioned at the beginning of my story, hospitals in Tuzla were well know for their high-quality treatments, not only in BIH but also wider. Their medical personnel are well-educated and trained and perform even the most complicated surgeries. I thank them every day for curing my aunt.

The center of the city is really beautiful. It is the pedestrian area, and cars are not allowed. The streets are made of tiles of different colors, and the surrounding buildings are the same. These are not tall buildings, but rather two-stories, typical to Bosnian towns. They add this cozy feeling to the entire center. I was walking through these streets, visiting little shops and boutiques, and came to a little square.

It used to be favorite place for young people to hang out,until that awful day in 1995. Namely, during the war a grenade hit that little square, killing 75 young people, and injuring more then 100 people. Most of them were young people. And today, that little square holds a monument to honor the people that were killed. The monument is called “Kapija”. I will put some pictures to show you have it looks.

Tuzla is also well known for the Pannonian lakes that are near the town. Pannonian Lakes in Tuzla were created in 2003 (the big lake with an archaeological park) and represent a tourist attraction of Tuzla, which had been recognized by tourists from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Pannonian lakes were created out of desire to show the way of life in these areas, through a Neolithic settlement, and to present salt as the most important feature of Tuzla with its healing offered in the Pannonian Lakes. This probably is the reason Pannonian lakes are visited by many tourists every year, and the numbers speak of beauty and attractiveness of Pannonian lakes.

Here is a pictures of a Pannonian Lake:

I won’t talk about attractions of Tuzla, because everyone can visit the link below and find out everything you wanted to know about Tuzla. I recommend you clicking this link which has information on the tourist community of Tuzla. And here’s another link about the Thermal Resort Salt and Spa in Tuzla.

I warmly recommend to you to take some time and visit Tuzla and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Let Tuzla become your dream destination. This is all from me today, I hope that everyone will visit city Tuzla. Thank you for taking a few moments and reading my story that is based on my trip to Tuzla.