The Zovik lodge, situated in the north of Bosnia, near the town of Brcko, is one of the oldest buildings in the country. The old stone house built in the 16th century still defies time.
The lodge was constructed by an ancestor of Mehmed Zaimovic, a Zovik resident, who initiated its renovation several years ago.
“There’s a specific situation where of all the buildings that were constructed here only this women’s lodge remained. The men’s lodge was located near as well as a tower and other facilities. I must say that the lodge was set on fire and my father did that as a kid while he was playing with a neighbour. The tower looked really bad so my grandfather gave the stone the tower was built of for the construction of a Catholic church in Boca,” recalls Zaimovic.
There are four living and three furnace rooms in the house. Each room also has a bathroom and a furnace, which were fired from separated furnace rooms.
“Along the whole lodge there was a long room or as we would call it divhana, which served as a meeting room of its owner with guests. All other rooms had the same arrangement and same conditions, and were arranged so that the rooms were surrounding divhana which had entrance to each of these rooms,” explained Zaimovic.
The recent renovation started in 2008 and was completed already in 2010. It was initiated by Zaimovic himself.
According to him, there is written evidence that famed Ottoman-era Bosniak commander, Husein-captain Gradascevic was visiting the lodge.
