WiId & Unknown - Bosnia and Herzegovina | Part 1: The North | Free Documentary Nature

[Music] [Music] a country wild and unknown right in the heart of Europe with cascading waterfalls untouched riverscapes and rugged Mountain sides rare and endangered animals roam the valleys and mountains of the peruch Primeval Forest the untouched nature offers a pristine habitat and is Testament to an impressive ecological diversity Bosnia and heroa Barren Beauty in the castic South and untouched nature in the densely wooded North who will win the waterfall full diving championship in yat which sheep dog comes from Mount vich and which mushroom species are saving the glacial lakes in the suesa National Park from [Music] [Music] disappearing [Music] the forests in the north of Bosnia and heroa are endless almost 60% of the country is wooded the nature here is pristine as the mountainous regions are remote and hard to access the wild clear Lakes are a habit habitat for a range of plants and animals that have become extinct elsewhere the brown bears symbolize and are proof of healthy [Music] forests there are around 1 thousands of these majestic creatures in the region undisturbed by people the animals can forage and be in peace they do have some neighbors the forests of Bosnia and herova have a large wolf population each pack has four to six animals and a territory that spans 250 square km wolves from outside the pack are not tolerated and either chased away or even killed when night falls the Keen hunters start looking for their [Music] prey Alim salich starts his day at Sunrise he's on his way to the mountain huts on Mount fich the mountain takes its name from the half- nomadic cattle herders that used to live here the valak the mountain pastures are still used for grazing the vet visits the Shepherds several times a month what's up Chef all good how are you we're about to tag the Lambs one by one y please prepare everything only a few type of sheep breeds can thrive in this tough climate the dubska prinka Sheep comes from the region it's very robust and has become quite rare a reason for the state to subsidize farmers who keep them the best pure bread Lambs are used purely for breeding the vet tags and makes a record of [Music] them they good sheep because they can stay outside all year no matter what the weather they have a rough water resistant W this is why these sheep rarely have respiratory illnesses my friend always says if they have hairy legs they're good the legs have to be hairy and you can recognize the breed by the head shape where's the tnac dog up there I'll take a look at him I want to vaccinate him and give him something against parasites got Tacs are also an ancient local breed the species was first mentioned in manuscripts from the 11th century all guard dogs behave this way until they've grown accustomed to you it's not aggressive it's just a warning Don't Go Near my treasure I'm guarding it hold him Tacs have a thick weatherproof coat that protects them from the low Mountain temperatures and icy winds the breed was almost extinct nowadays only a few Shepherds still keep them they protect the herd from wolves bears and other [Music] predators over by Goran was that a wolf a bear a bear got to the Sheep the dog cannot fight a bear he has to warn me so that I can take care of it he's good at warning me from danger Tacs are peaceful and good natured towards people they have a keen instinct to protect their territory from strangers or predators the stronger ones could take on a wolf but they never go for the fight they scare the Invader off their character is not so let's say crazy that they would chase down a wolf not that they would run after him a little and then come back and otherwise they are calm composed and stable these dogs are not in the habit of hurting anything it reacts strongly to All Things unknown he's a good guard dog who tells his master when he has to come out the owner can tell from the dog's bark whether there's a real threat and he has to go out and engage between spring and Autumn thousands of sheep graze on the soft Meadows of Mount flich in search of fresh pasture the Wild Side of the Mountain with its dramatic sheer walls Towers over the lva valley [Music] [Music] the rivers have carved spectacular Gorges into the Limestone of the dineric Alps The verbus Gorge is one of the most impressive streaming Rivers dissect the mountainous country most of them still wild and pristine they are an impressive natural [Applause] [Music] spectacle entirely unique the waterfall in yit in the middle of the Town The Plea River flows into the verbas river down a 20 M drop this historic town was founded in 1396 by the Grand Duke of Bosnia at the spot where the plea flows into the verbas he erected a fortress and named it Yi it became the seat of the Bosnian Kings until it was conquered by the Ottomans in recent history it regained its standing as the official founding place of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dino bich has come from Saro he's one of the best Cliff jumpers in the country since 2013 the historic town has hosted a waterall jumping tournament an extreme sporting event that has become very popular the competitors come from Bosnia and herova and the neighboring countries the Steep drop can be daunting even for the professionals every jump requires courage and strong physical [Applause] discipline follow Dino B is an experienced cliff jumper he competes in all the important events around the Balkans jumping from Cliffs and bridges jumping from a waterfall is an unforgettable experience even for him just seeing such vast amounts of water under your feet is indescribable looking up from below and we're looking down on you we're all alone at the top of the platform and can enjoy this incredible view it's the reason we come back every year to stand up here on the edge of this platform on our own and throw ourselves off this beautiful [Applause] [Music] waterfall 20 competitors from three countries are taking part each contestant gets two jumps to perform the perfect swallow dive in front of the audience and jury the swallow is the traditional dive with arms outstretched until hitting the [Music] surface [Applause] [Applause] in the T final Dino bich only narrowly missed out on first [Applause] place [Music] dense Woodland blankets the north of the country one of the last primeval forests in Europe the perit in the midst of the pristine nature the skakavac waterfall Thunders down 75 M making it one of the highest waterfalls in the country the dense Furs spruces and beach trees can reach up to 50 m many of them have been standing here for centuries rare and endangered species have made this remote Woodland into their home it offers protection to an array of plants and animals pero is the perfect habitat for the brown bear here there is abundant food to scavenge and plenty of peace and quiet for the shy animals this is very important for the brown bear so they can hibernate undisturbed and rear their cubs the extensive Forest also offers perfect conditions for the links to thrive this skilled Hunter was almost extinct in Europe the Bulan Lynx a subspecies of the Eurasian Lynx is still under threat it's estimated that there are less than 50 of the animals left making it one of the rarest big cats on [Music] [Music] [Music] Earth the dense mixed Forest envelops the mountainous landscape in the north the mountains were carved into the Limestone by the countless Rivers flowing from north to south for millions of years the mountain rivers are a Relentless force that man has always harnessed the many Old Mills are a testament to this yet only very few are still in use 400 years ago 20 Oak Mills were built along the plea River a prime example of traditional construction and local carpentry [Music] deep in the forests of the mining area in central Bosnia the power of the water was used for metal forging the small village of orvia is still renowned for its Hammer smithing allo fkit is one of the last local blacksmiths ironware has been made here for four generations using exactly the same Technique we have to heat the metal three times and Forge it under this 100 kilo Hammer that is powered by water then we heat it again three times to forge it with a handheld wooden Hammer when that's done it's smoothed and Polished we need about 40 minutes for a vessel with a 40 cm diameter not much has changed in 800 years the whole forgery runs on water power alone the hammer the Bellows and the other tools the only other force needed is muscle power the toughest job forging the red hot metal is done by the drop Hammer this is lifted by a water-powered camshaft the blacksmith can control the speed of the Hammer by the amount of water that goes onto the Paddle Wheel either speeding up or slowing down the rotating camshaft allo vikic has been doing the job since he was 15 I've never worked anywhere else since I've been little this is where those who don't want to go to school work and he still makes a decent living the main work used to be Horseshoes and agricultural equipment today it is mainly baking pans frying pans and knives the demand is there but we're lacking skilled workers before the last Bosnian War 10 of us were working here there were seven blacksmiths along this small River a total of 64 people working here now it's only five far too few there's no one left here who can do this job no Angela Merkel took them all ped our skilled workers away people go because they think it's a better life there the bnit mountains rise up a few kilometers from the capital sarayo the mountain Massif is a holiday Resort and was one of the competition venues of the Winter Olympics in [Music] 1984 at 1,472 M on the Southern Ridge of the bashit mountain range perches lukomir the highest Village in the [Music] country its residents have lived from Agriculture and cattle rearing for the past 500 years nowadays the village is only inhabited from May to November due to the tough snow Laden Winters every summer 17 families return to lumir from the neighboring lower Villages most of the villages are over 60 the traditional craftsmanship is mainly done for the tourists that come through this far flly idil every weekend but in the mornings the roads still belong to the animals 200 sheep per resident they are The Village's most important source of [Applause] income the swallows also return to the village in the summer in their hundreds undisturbed they rear their chicks in the rooftop niches of the abandoned houses [Music] less than half of the 50 Stone houses are still [Music] inhabited ever since a graveled Road was built to lukomir a few years ago more and more tourists are visiting the picturesque Village this has motivated a few locals to move back old houses are being repaired mainly for guests last year om chor renovated the house where he was born now he's working on the Garden Wall and the barn like some of his neighbors the early retie is a descendant of the last bogomil of Bosnia the bomil meaning dear to God were an early Christian Community that resided in Bosnia and heroa in the Middle Ages their tombstones can be found across the [Music] country B tombstones and proof that they used to live here two swords were carved into the stone this means two Warriors are buried here bills were persecuted from the East and from the West they were forced to take on the Orthodoxy from the east or the Catholicism from the West the people came from here and were persecuted because of their beliefs this is where the last bill found shelter and lies [Music] buried lumir an outpost perched Over The Gorge of the Rakin nit River essentially means Harbor of Freedom this is where the persecuted bom found their Refuge the natural world has also made use of such remoteness an abundant Flora has developed here with dozens of endemic species that only grow here an absolute Treasure Trove for herbalist om chor his search for particularly rare plants brings him to places few have ever ventured this is an endemic plant and this is time if you make a tea from both of them it's like an antibiotic it's in the sparer environments where you have to fight to survive that the most plants grow that's what the books say and indeed when you come here you think there's nothing but if you look closer you see there is [Music] everything this undisturbed Countryside has been able to keep its secrets it is still disputed whether the stti the name given to the Bogle tombstones may also Harbor the remains of other [Music] religions a greater mystery are the large Stone spheres found in the forest no no one really knows how or where they've come from they are one of the planet's most unique phenomena to this day 60 have been discovered strewn across 11 locations in Bosnia and heroa the largest weighs almost 30 tons the greatest mystery of all are the alleged three pyramids not far from Saro said to be 30,000 years old and underneath the mountains or at least this is what amateur archaeologists seir osmanagich claims tens of thousands of visitors flock here every year for the chance to experience the supposed mysterious energy in the excavated underground tunnel system it's the high concentration of negative ions and oxygen in this subterran Anan world that supposedly has a positive effect on mind and body employees of this privately Run archaological Park test the values regularly first we measure up here then we'll go in I'll help you today [Music] extra this is already showing 300 200 250 as a control evina chich always measures the concentration of negative ions in front of the tunnel entrance the search for proof of the pyramid hypothesis began in 2006 the uncovered tunnel system is allegedly part of the pyramid complex and entrance way to the largest one the sun pyramid so far 3 km of tunnel system have been excavated and various monoliths found particularly strong energy is attributed to these manually formed Stones azra Oran is convinced that the tunnels were more than merely connecting Pathways we think that this underground Labyrinth and the pyramid itself did not serve as a burial ground or Shrine of worship as history dictates but essentially as an energy machine they were built to optimize the surroundings so our bodies can profit from the best possible influences physically mentally and spiritually it is the negative ions which are found in very high concentrations in these tunnels that have the greatest Health promoting effect evina chich measures the air quality twice a week weak at varying locations negative ions are particles that have a positive effect on us and the air they filter out dust viruses bacteria everything that is bad outside there is a concentration of around 500 negative ions for every cubic cm of air here in the tunnel the average value lies at 26,000 300 M away a new tunnel is being uncovered archaeologist Amna aich is in charge of the excavation her team is made up of a colleague and a dozen local and international volunteers they're currently digging in a side Tunnel right this is Clay we are assuming that we may find another side tunnel or an entrance to a room we'll see what are digging on [Music] [Laughter] [Music] 65 M of tunnel were uncovered in the last 2 years and archaeologists have found ceramic pieces bronze objects and animal [Music] bones the marking on one of these pieces has enabled us to date it it is a swastika a very old symbol we know that it was used by many civilizations in Bosnia andov it was used by the slaves in the 8 and 9th century ad everything is carefully transported out of the tunnels and examined even the smallest fragment can be a vital clue shedding light on why and how these underground tunnels were made that looks interesting is it something some coming no just a stone we have often found organic matter while sving through the debris we are especially Keen to find out if there are other layers of materials underneath just now we discovered a small clay layer in the tunnel so we ask where does it come from and what does it mean in the broader [Music] context the professional scientific community is more skeptical but that doesn't bother those who flock here every year it has become a place of encounters for all those who believe in positive energy who want to experience love and unity rather than hate and division important for a country whose Battle Scars are far from [Music] healed even without pyramids Bosnia and heroa has an interesting history a testament to this are the many fortresses and castles found throughout the [Music] country once part of the Roman Empire it was settled by yans and later by slaves in 1463 it became part of the Ottoman Empire the 400 years of Ottoman rule not only characterizes the city's architecture but also brought the Islamic faith to Bosnia and [Music] herova the country has been a symbol for multiculturalism and tolerance ever since despite the P war or perhaps because of it people are proud of its cultural and religious diversity the Catholic monasteries and churches Orthodox temples mosques and synagogues have always stood side by side the coexistence of these four religions is a reality that has been lived for [Music] centuries in crala suesca the residence of Bosnian kings in the 15th century stands possibly the oldest mosque in the country according to Legend it was built in just 3 days in 1463 on the other side of the bucolic town is The Franciscan Monastery it has served as the cultural an spiritual center of the region for the past 680 [Music] years the memory of the last Bosnian Queen Catherine is kept alive here she was much loved thanks to her good deeds as Queen the Guardians of the monastery Shel K burkich and two fellow Believers are the only [Music] residents [Music] Alan spahic became Imam of this mosque one year ago it is one of the oldest preserved buildings from the ottoman [Music] period [Music] this mosque is under conservation it's cared for by people of the Islamic faith and our neighbors Catholics Orthodox and others support it and other Islamic buildings just as the Muslims help to build a fence around a cemetery no matter who it belongs to when churches or chapels are built when someone needs help privately no one asks who or what they are it's only important that they are an honest and fair [Music] person the two spiritual leaders meet regularly to discuss matters concerning their Village and Community tolerance is tolerating somebody and there's no tolerance here there's Unity I love hearing this Bell and people miss it when there's no call to prayer from the minet this has been our reality for Generations Mountain miners live here when they go underground together they're Brothers exactly no one asks who you are or what you're called that's it a Unity that is lived out here but you are correct in that we should not allow the negative tendencies that can exist on all sides we should do everything we can to not give such people too much room as it may cause unnecessary problems where there actually aren't [Music] any brother shelo and Imam Alin salich preach and live the true spirits of Bosnia and [Music] her towards the northernmost part of the country the landscape flattens millions of years ago the panonian sea was here and left behind a very fertile plane the region around the city of grats consists mainly of orchards apples pears and especially [Music] plums these plums are considered the best in the country this is the last Harvest of the year on Javad chic's Plantation 25 men and women will work late into the evening picking around 15 Tons from the trees JV chich has had hanging crates ladders and tables especially built to make the work a little easier for him a mechanical fruit Harvester is out of the question traditionally we harvest the plums by hand especially the fruits you eat directly machines damage the fruit and that makes it rot quicker we used to use the old ladders leaning them against the trees they were difficult to stand on these custombuilt ladders make it much easier and we no longer have to CL CL into the trees JV ch's Plantation can yield up to 300 tons of fruit a year they are almost exclusively exported to Western Europe the plums from grats are in high demand due to their quality and great taste [Music] the peak of the country's highest mountain reaches 2,386 M the magit the Misty Mountain is a rugged Massif in the suesca national park in the east on the border to Montenegro a little less rough but no less impressive is Mount zeling the Green Mountain its undulating Meadows and pastures as well as its glacial lakes make it a hugely popular attraction the eight glacial lakes are also known as the eight eyes of the zelengora nedim yukich and his colleagues are Keen amateur myologist they're exploring the world of fungi for an ecological project in the last 18 months they have been to 18 lakes and documented over 120 different species of mushroom some of which have never been discovered before the fungi they are really interested in aren't those we can eat or those which are poisonous but the ones which enable these Lakes to exist without these mushrooms the plant remains here would not decompose the dead or ganc matter would accumulate until everything is overgrown and the whole ecosystem would die rare and endangered species thrive in such remote and isolated habitats with rough weather conditions nedim and his colleagues want to collect and identify as many as possible the hope is that their findings will lead to the establishment of a sustainable program that protects these sensitive ecosystems and the delicate mushrooms that allow it to exist this is one of the tributaries of lakein it's home to semi-aquatic and Aquatic mushrooms they only grow by permanent waterways and places that are damp all year round only in those conditions can the mushroom withstand the different weather extremes such habitats are under acute threat the water sources are becoming scarcer every year which has a detrimental effect on the mushrooms which depend on the water to survive nikad come here look oh two 3 cm cut mushroom awesome the mushrooms can only be formally identified under a microscope before the samples are taken to the laboratory for a detailed analysis each one is photographed and documented in Bosnia and Herz this world of mushrooms is still undiscovered which is why it's extremely important that we explore these habitats as they'll disappear in the foreseeable [Music] [Music] future Bosnia and herz's North is sparsely populated allowing its natural Splendor to unfold like these rare rock formations bizarre Sandstone [Music] Peaks and mysterious moon scapes Bosnia and heroa yields an astounding and unique array of natural [Music] phenomena it's greatest Jewels are its rivers wild and everyone unique the unaa National Park is a refuge for water-loving Animals it lies in the west along the border to Croatia three rivers flow across the enormous Nature Reserve that is named after the unaa river the 33 of the animals are protected the wolf brown bear Lynx as well as the Badger otter and sto under the strictest protection is the river unaa itself with its plentiful waterfalls and Cascades its emerald green and drinking water Purity this natural landscape is of great ecological value Maria relich lives in Martin bro a tribut tree of the OA flows through her back Garden Maria doesn't just use the water for her vegetable garden but also to wash her carpets and blankets in a historical natural washing machine 250 years ago the ancestors of Maria's husband built this washing machine the ingenious Contraption uses a lever mechanism to control the amount and thus also the gradual force of the water inflow the rest takes care of itself one can certainly call this ancestor of the modern washing machine it can wash big things without detergent or any chemicals everything is cleansed by the sheer volume of water the water pressure and a whole lot of oxygen bubbles that are created by the flow of water Maria's husband also makes use of the garden River in his Mill are you finished yes I need to grind please finish so I can start in the mill the washing machine and the mill use the same water current and lever mechanism it controls the flow of water either to the washing machine or the mill wheel there were once 6 5 Mills in the village of martim bro and 15 washing machines the relich family run the last two still in use Maria relich knows to Value the riches the river has to offer there are only a few places in the world where you have free drinking water on your doorstep and such abundance to make sure it stays that way we must do our best to protect this natural resource which has been given to us and we have to teach the Next Generation just like our ancestors taught us how to protect the OA and preserve this clean [Applause] water [Applause] the shatki book Cascades down 25 M and is the una's highest and most spectacular waterfall it was formed by tectonic shifts and calcarius deposits for those who dare one can drop down the waterfall in an inflatable dinghy although the biggest drop is only for the guides [Applause] even the smaller Cascades and Rapids require courage and skill I don't have a all right an unforgettable experience of wilderness and freedom in one of Europe's last unspoiled landscapes

Channel: Free Documentary - Nature

Views: 226,221

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), nature documentary, Free Documentary Nature, Nature, Wildlife Documentary, Wildlife, Animals Documentary, Animals, Wild Balkan, Wild Balkan Documentary, The Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia Documentary, Wild Bosnia, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, BBC Documentary

Id: 8pmmWHiuL0w

Length: 52min 12sec (3132 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 17 2024