Revival of tourism on the Resava - Construction of Orasje sports and recreation center starts in mid-2011

(Prskalo waterfall)

Entrepreneur Miodrag Radisavljevic, who has been successfully engaged in the catering business for ten years now, is going to make the tourism in the Resava area richer. His company STUR Radisavljevic-M, which runs Resava Hostel, plans to have a sports and recreation center called Orasje built on about 5 ha of land.

The zoning plan is now on public display in the municipality of Despotovac, while Director of the Directorate for Construction Darko Petrovic says for eKapija that, if everything goes as planned, the interested investor will be able to get all the necessary permits for the project as soon as in March.

Speaking for eKapija, Miodrag Radisavljevic announces construction of a complex alongside the left bank of the Resava river, comprising the following: a football field, a hostel, bungalows, and a restaurant. In the next phase, the complex should also comprise a luxury hotel, a shooting range, a swimming pool, and a trout pond.

- My company has been running Resava Hostel and achieving excellent results over the last ten years. All rooms in the hostel are occupied almost during the whole year, while our most frequent guests are athletes and students, which is why we want to adapt future contents to fit their needs. We are going to offer a complete service for business meetings, outdoor classes, sports trainings, etc.

(the Resava)

The first phase includes construction of a professional football field and a court for mini sports - basketball, volleyball, tennis. Locker rooms will be built next to these sports fields, and there will also be a conference room, a hostel with about 110 beds, as well as an outdoor swimming pool.

According to our interlocutor, the complex will be supplemented by ethnic style bungalows and restaurant.

- Between 500,000 and 600,000 euros are needed for the first phase of works. We have already provided part of the funds, while the rest will be covered by the money from favorable loans we plan to take out. The company Milenkovic from Jagodina has been entrusted with the design of the project and, if everything goes as planned, the construction should commence in mid-2011.

Bungalows and the restaurant will be built in the recognizable style of eastern Serbia and harmonized with the main characteristics of that region - hunting, fishing and mining.

As our interlocutor reveals, they also plan to build a trout pond for recreational fishing and a firing range in the second phase, for which the investor from Despotovac expects to receive an aid from the state, that is, the Ministry of Sports.

- We would like to have a hotel of higher category built in the second phase, as well as an Olympic swimming pool - says our interlocutor.

The state's aid is expected because the construction of new capacities would revive the Resava area, which is famous for Manasija monastery, the Resava Cave, Veliko Vrelo and Prskalo waterfalls, as well as for one of the last rain forests in Europe - Vinatovaca at the foot of Juzni Kucaj mountain.

(Resavica mine)

Miodrag Milenkovic plans to continue the tradition and improve the catering business. All members of the Milenkovic family are involved in the project.

- We want to build a serious family company. My daughter will soon graduate from the Faculty of Tourism, my son-in-law is a lawyer. They plan to stay in Despotovac and put effort into developing the tourism in that area.

The Resava river

The Resava river is the longest right tributary of the Velika Morava. It is about 70 km long. Its source is at the height of over 1,100 meters above the sea level, while its mouth is at the height of 94 meters. It flows through the municipalities of Despotovac and Svilajnac.

The Resava river also flows through Vinatovaca rain forest. This thick beech forest is declared the Park of Nature, just like the canyon of the Klocanica river, the left tributary of the Resava.