The movie location in Jablanica.

“The battle of Neretva” was the biggest movie ever made in former Yugoslavia. The spectacular location where the movie was shot is in Jablanica in central Bosnia.

The museum about “The battle of Neretva” in Jablanica.

Back in 1969, the government of Yugoslavia decided to to invest in what was by then, the biggest movie production of Yugoslavia. They spend 12 million dollars on a movie about The battle of Neretva. The movie was build on a true story from the second world war, where the Yugoslav partisans were fighting against the nazi/facist invaders. The movie has since then been praised by historians for being very historically correct.

Big international movie stars like Yul Brynner and Orson Welles were hired. the budget was massive. But it was approved personally by the president/dictator of Yugoslavia, Tito (Josip Broz).

The blown up bridge in Jablanica.

The railway bridge next to the town Jablanica was blown up by the partisans. When the movie was filmed, the railway bridge from the second world war was rebuilt and blown up once again. This was actually done, so that future tourists could come and visit the scene. Even back then, they had an idea about film tourism.

Today this blown up railway bridge stands as a monument over a movie that is probably forgotten by most people. But I really think that there is a special vibe about the place. There is also a quite interesting museum about the movie next to the blown up bridge.

The old steam train that was used in the movie is also still standing there and it’s really a cool place for movie buffs, or just people who like old stuff.

The place has surprisingly few visitors, but that just makes the whole scene even more cool if you ask me. No large groups of people come there to tell the people back home that they have “done” Jablanica. Just people like me who like unusual places and old movies.

So if you want to see a place a little out of the ordinary, when visiting Bosnia, then you should stop in Jablanica and visit the old blown up train bridge.

There is a nice little cafe next to the bridge.

Jablanica is located in between Sarajevo and Mostar and is on the way if you walk/cycle/drive between the two cities. There is no train station in Jablanica, so you will need to go by bus, if you want to visit Jablanica by public transport.

If you want to read about a ghost hotel on a volcano in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, then I have a blogpost about it on this link