December 19, 2021 - The interactive multimedia center, 3D halls, projections, and presentations on screens are just a part of what the new Geo-information center in Voćin on Papuk offers.

From the first day of the new year in Virovitica-Podravina County, visitors at the new Geo-information center will be able to discover how our planet came to be, experience the Papuk underground, feel the atmosphere of caves and pits, meet rhinos, Miocene saber cats, or Miocene sharks in the former Pannonian Sea and find out all about the historical and geological development of the most famous Slavonian mountains, reports HrTurizam.

Models, sculptures and photographs of interesting living beings and stories about seven historical periods in biology and archeology will introduce you to life on Papuk, which is mostly a nature park, and due to its exceptional geological importance and a UNESCO geopark.

Photo: Kristijan Toplak/Virovitica-Podravina County Official Website

"Papuk, along the Drava River, is one of our strongest assets, and both areas are under the protection of UNESCO. Voćin is annually visited by about 100 thousand guests whose main motive for coming is the Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Voćin. The opening of this new Geo-information center in Voćin with all its facilities will be the reason for the arrival of many new visitors, which will ultimately have a positive impact on the development of tourism entrepreneurship," says Martina Jakelić, director of Virovitica-Podravina County.

The director of the Papuk Nature Park, Alen Jurenac, points out that the construction of the Geo-information center worth around 40 million kuna is part of the "UNESCO Geoparks Geopark" project.

Photo: Kristijan Toplak/Virovitica-Podravina County Official Website

"The geo-stories of the UNESCO Geopark have so far been the largest project proposal approved in this part of Croatia. The investment is worth more than 90 million kuna with 85 percent support from the Ministry of Regional Development and EU funds, while the rest of the funds were invested by the Papuk Nature Park. The Geo-information center in Voćin, which is one of the two official entrances to the Nature Park, is an excellent starting point for getting to know the geological, biological and cultural heritage of Papuk", says Jurenac.

Papuk Nature Park is the first UNESCO geopark in the Republic of Croatia, a place that is very popular among mountaineers and recreationists, and from year to year it is surrounded by modern houses with swimming pools and camp Duboka, an adrenaline park, and Aquapark Shhhuma in Velika. Also, Papuk is surrounded by Kutjevo and its famous wine road, Požega, Slavonski Brod, Našice with various additional tourist facilities, which makes the whole area extremely attractive for tourism. By the end of September this year, PP Papuk was visited by about 50,000 visitors.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

ZAGREB, 18 Dec, 2021 - On the 30th anniversary of the wartime killing of Croatian civilians in Voćin, a senior delegation of the Serb National Council (SNV) and a special envoy of Serbia's president on Saturday honoured the victims for the first time as well as laying wreaths at a memorial to killed and missing Serbs.

The commemoration was organised by the SNV, which said it was honouring the Croat and Serb residents of Voćin and neighbouring villages, western Slavonia, killed in December 1991.

That month, withdrawing from Croatian soldiers in the Voćin area, Serb paramilitaries killed 47 Voćin villagers and three Croatian defenders.

Speaking at the memorial to the Croatian victims, SNV president Milorad Pupovac said it was one of the worst crimes in the 1991-95 Homeland War that would be remembered for its "bestiality and brutality."

He expressed "strong and deep regret" for the "unprotected" victims who had "no evil thought for anyone," adding, "The people who did this stopped being human and thereby our compatriots."

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić's special envoy for cooperation with Croatia regarding the war missing, Veran Matić, said the Voćin crime marked the crimes that would ensue in the following years.

"Even 30 years after those horrible events, I have the feeling that we have lost a lot of time and failed to do a lot that could have been done in dealing with our evil past," he said.

Those gone missing in the war are proof of the fact that we have failed to find a way to successfully deal with our past and to agree on and cooperate in healing our societies, he added.

"Some of the people who inspired this crime still have a platform for hate speech and they use it unimpeded. Our task is to stop such rhetoric and not to allow such speech so that the victims, their families and our societies can rest, and as a guarantee that crimes will not happen again."

Matić also said Serbia and Croatia should continue to look for the disappeared even though 30 years have gone by.

Pupovac, Matić and local officials also commemorated Serb civilians from western Slavonia killed between 1991 and 1995.

"We are here today to reiterate our commitment to cooperation in shedding light on the fate of the missing, both those gone missing in this area 30 years ago and those gone missing in later years in other parts of Croatia," said Pupovac.

He added that "cooperation in the search for the missing leads us from hostility to partnership, from nurturing feelings of war to developing feelings of peace."

Responding to questions from the press, Pupovac said this year's commemoration in Voćin was a step forward as both Serb and Croatian victims were honoured.

Asked why no one from Croatia's state leadership was present, he said it was not the time to reprimand anyone, other than those responsible for the crime.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.