Only clean air remained from Metaljka

On the road to Sarajevo, at the 40th kilometer from Pljevlja, there is the village of Metaljka.

During the Austro-Hungarian occupation, this was a small town with street lights and tourists coming to the air spa intended for the recovery of the sick.

Metaljka today looks like an abandoned place with a dozen buildings.

It has long since died down and is no longer visited by tourists.

The former State convalescent center on Metaljka, at over 1.200 meters above sea level, is now a place for grazing, and the magical place for soul and body, as it was called at the time, is only reminded of concrete slabs overgrown with grass.

More than a century ago, someone who understood the gems of nature spared no effort and money to build a magnificent building, bring water through wooden pipes and build a modern resort with complete comfort facilities.

Throughout the year, primary, secondary and high school students, as well as adults, were accepted for recovery, if there were vacancies. Male school children were admitted in July, and female school children in August.

"The state convalescent center is suitable for the recovery of weak, anemic persons and for those convalescing from infectious diseases. Those suffering from tuberculosis in a mild form and degree are not admitted to this institution, nor are those suffering from acute infectious diseases, and that they do not suffer from visible skin and nervous diseases and that they do not have major physical defects", it is written in the catalog of the State Rehabilitation Center in Metaljka.

On six pages illustrated with photographs, information on the work of the institution, registration method, price list of services, equipment, supervision, entertainment and winter sports is given.

Excursions to the near and far surroundings, games on the playground, and indoor games in bad weather were planned for leisure.

Users could listen to the radio and use the library, which was well equipped for that time.

In winter, the administration recommended winter sports, especially skiing.

"The supply fee remains the same even in the winter months, thus giving the opportunity to poorer winter sports enthusiasts to engage in it," the resort management states in the catalog.

The buildings of the convalescent center were built of stone "with hygienic, bright and parquet-floored rooms". The convalescent center had spacious, beautiful dormitories, two dining rooms, bathrooms, its own water supply with excellent mountain water and electric light from its own switchboard.

It had its own car that traveled between the convalescent center and the railway station in Goražde, about forty kilometers away.

With the disintegration of the SFRY, the resort was literally divided between the houses, so one part of the estate belonged to Montenegro, and the other to the Republic of Srpska.

This former "magical place" today looks like a glade overgrown with forest, where the silence is only disturbed by the chirping of birds and the roar of the wind.

Locals say that the place was destroyed in 1943 during the German bombing.

After the war, the stone from which the sanatorium was built was used by the locals for their own needs.

From the former well-known resort, today only the remains of concrete slabs, an outdoor mini-pool, a pond or fountain, stairs under which there was an entrance to the butcher's shop and a cold storage room for meat and sensitive foods are visible.

Huge linden, chestnut, and ash trees that reach up to a meter in diameter remind the promenade that had rows of trees, benches for rehabilitation and relaxation.

The only thing left is pure mountain air, which expands the lungs and invigorates a person.

Bring stationery to report home

The price list or supply fee was 17 dinars per day for students, and 30 dinars for high school students and adults.

People coming for recovery from places at least 200 kilometers away could use the driving privilege, for which a certificate of residence had to be obtained.

As stated in the catalog, the students were required to bring with them "4 pairs of underwear, 4 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of shoes and a clean suit, an overcoat, 4 pocket handkerchiefs, 1 pair of slippers, teeth cleaning kit and a comb and that they each bring a few postcards to report home".