A hotel village with only eighty beds
The eco/ethno village of Stara Kapela is situated at the foot of Dilj gora, at the border between Brod-Posavina and Požega Slavonia County. Unique for its traditional architecture and the quiet of the old rural lifestyle, the village leaves each guest with the impression of returning a hundred year back to the past. Without cars and mobile phone signal, Stara Kapela offers a different story, free of any rush and stress, in coexistence with nature and traditional values. The village was fully reconstructed in the traditional style and with local materials, elaborated to the tiniest detail. Each house was provided with its former appearance, and the entire road is illuminated with lanterns on wooden poles with wooden plates presenting the words of the greatest Croatian poets.
Thanks to the Eco/Ethno Village Association that initiated the reconstruction of Stara Kapela, most of the old furniture, old tools and various household aids have been purchased, so everyone can evoke the former lifestyle. The village was also provided with 13 kilometers of hiking/biking tracks with six rest stops, while replicas of old ?ardaks are available in four locations. As the area has 120 registered plant species and over 80 bird species, plates with the relevant Croatian and Latin names were mounted across the entire track. The village presently has only 19 residents, but they will soon be accompanied with some new ones because a certain number of abandoned estates have been purchased by artists who will present some of their work in Stara Kapela. The plans for further development of the village provide for an old trade park and a traditional village garden with autochthonous flowers. Stara Kapela strives to become a model hotel village with only eight tourist beds by 2009. 14 beds are currently available for guests in Stara Kapela, and the number should rise to around forty by the end of the year. A souvenir shop has recently been opened, and they will soon start mounting wooden fences around the houses. Such reconstruction requires plenty of time and effort because the aim is to fully restore the village’s appearance of over a hundred years ago, which makes Stara Kapela a true tourist pearl, only 170 kilometers from Zagreb.
Source: press.croatia.hr
