A sprawling Cold War-era Soviet bunker, built to withstand a 20-kiloton nuclear explosion but abandoned for decades, will be transformed into Europe’s newest tourist attraction.
Carved into the side of a mountain on the border of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Zeljava underground air base was once one of the continent’s largest military complexes.
But for decades it stood silent after being abandoned during the 1992 Serbo-Croatian War, with only the occasional intrepid adventurer ever daring to venture into its crumbling cavernous core.
Now plans are in the works to open the huge complex, which is just a stone’s throw from southern Europe’s busiest national park, Europe’s Plitvice Lakes, to tourists – while terrifying new images of the sprawling base were revealed revealed.
It was secretly built in the 1960s at a cost of $6 billion to hide a fleet of Soviet fighter jets in what was then Yugoslavia – a socialist federation that sought a middle ground between Moscow and Washington during the Cold War – and had about one’s own power, water and water. purification and ventilation systems and could work autonomously.
The Zeljava underground air base, carved into the side of a mountain on the border of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, was once one of Europe’s largest military complexes (visitors are pictured exploring the base)
The sprawling Cold War-era Soviet bunker was built to withstand a 20-kiloton nuclear explosion, but abandoned for decades
It stood stagnant after being abandoned during the Serbo-Croatian War in 1992, with only the occasional intrepid adventurer ever daring to venture into its crumbling cavernous core (pictured is Mario Garbin exploring the dank depths of the bunker explores with a torch)
Now there are plans to open the huge complex, which is just a stone’s throw from southern Europe’s busiest national park, Europe’s Plitvice Lakes, to tourists (visitors Angelo Virag (R) and Mario Garbin (L) take pictures of the dark tunnels of Zeljava)
In its heyday, the bunker had five runways and could house nearly 60 MiG-21 aircraft, while its approximately 3.5 kilometers of tunnels were also home to command centers, offices and dormitories for 1,000 Soviet troops.
The remains of the enormous 100-ton retractable concrete doors at the four entrances are still visible and the metal bracings protrude from the structures.
“All the systems were state-of-the-art at the time,” says Mirsad Fazlic, a former pilot who worked at the base for almost a decade in the 1980s.
“It was the best military and civilian technology at the time.”
During the wars that followed the fall of communism and the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the facility was destroyed by the remnants of the Yugoslav army, using powerful explosives.
“Everything that was in there, all that equipment, everything was burned,” Mr. Fazlic said. “Only the tunnels and walls remained.”
After the destruction, the base lay largely empty and in disrepair, attracting adventurous tourists who wanted to explore the rusting ruins of the bunker’s maze of tunnels and abandoned aircraft.
That all changed in 2016 with the release of a Slovenian mockumentary called ‘Houston, We Have a Problem!’ with the base.
This photo, taken on October 4, 2023, shows the Douglas C-47 B Dakota US Army aircraft covered with stickers at the Zeljava underground army airbase in the heart of Pljesevica Mountain, on Croatia’s border with Bosnia
Visitors explore some of Zeljava’s 3.5 kilometers of tunnels in the heart of Pljesevica Mountain on October 4, 2023
Much of the hidden depths of the former Soviet bunker complex have rusted after decades of neglect
Visitor Mario Garbin looks at enormous fuel tanks on the Zeljava. The underground base is designed to withstand a nuclear explosion
According to locals, the state complex has since attracted more than 150,000 people per year.
Authorities in the area are hopeful that with proper marketing the base can attract many more tourists, especially some of the 1.7 million tourists who visit the nearby Plitvice Lakes National Park every year.
“By revitalizing Zeljava, we would create additional content for the national park, allowing tourists to stay an extra day,” said Ante Kovac, the area’s mayor.
Auto races have already been held at the base, and officials believe its extraordinary size means it could house data centers, host parties or create a Cold War museum.
Currently, visitors walk through the damp, pitch-black tunnels with flashlights, carefully avoiding holes in the ground, while some drive through parts of the base.
“It’s crazy that it’s frozen in time,” said Angelo Virag, a photographer visiting from the Croatian capital Zagreb, who was impressed by the “absolute ingenuity of the technique.”
Locals estimate that the state-owned company attracts more than 150,000 people every year
Mirsad Fazlic (pictured), a former pilot who worked at the base for almost a decade in the 1980s, visited the site on October 4.
A visitor looks at the ventilation plant in the vast underground former Soviet military base
Authorities in the area are hopeful that with proper marketing the base can attract many more tourists, especially some of the 1.7 million tourists who visit the nearby Plitvice Lakes National Park every year.
Car races have already been held on the bass. Pictured is one of five major runways once used by the base
His cousin Mario Garbin, from Perth, Australia, raved about the “raw, authentic nature of the infrastructure that has remained untouched for the past thirty years.”
Aviation fanatic Hamdija Mesic from the nearby Bosnian town of Bihac said he hopes the two runaways in Bosnia will soon reopen to fellow pilots.
“Such a huge facility, abandoned by the ravages of time, cannot be found anywhere else in the world,” he told AFP.
Others, however, hoped the site would remain as it is.
“You don’t have signs where to go and what to see, it’s more of a discovery place,” Maria Moreno, a 33-year-old interior designer from Spain, told AFP. ‘That’s why I liked it.
“If you turned it into a tourist attraction, it would lose its charm.”