Forges in Oćevija
At first glance, it looks like a common Bosnian village, but Oćevija is a lot more than that. The village of Oćevija was mentioned for the first time in written sources in 1485. Today, it is the last place in Europe where the traditional and pre-industrial manners of iron forging. In forges, as they are called here, iron is melted and made in a mediaeval way, with the exclusive help of water energy. It is a process that is over 800 years old and the remainder and testimony of some of the ancient times.
Watching the forges in the village of Oćevija , making iron objects today, you simply have to be fascinated by the fact that the ancestors of these valuable masters for centuries have done the same job in the same way. Today, there are three active blacksmiths that mainly produce agricultural tools and crops. These items have their customers throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina but also abroad. The residents of the village are doing their best to try to keep this tradition alive in their region and to move the art of kneading iron to younger generations.
This unique village, a witness to the mining past of the Vareš region, located in the beautiful surroundings of the mountain “Zvijezda”, with its valuable and friendly residents, is certainly worth visiting and will not leave anyone indifferent.
