Press release

It would't be much stuff if Stara Kapela wasn't a place far, far away. This is a dieing village, in 12 houses there is only 21 inhabitant. But the thing to be proud of it is that they are becoming the first ethno-village in the Brod-Posavina county and which needs to be brought back to life. The oldest inhabitant is grandmother Marija Ivšek (84) and in the last 15 years no soul was born.
When somebody dies, we say 5% of the village has disappeared - says dr. Antun Tucić, a doctor in the bigger Nova Kapela. As he is from Stara Kapela, he decided to revive the dieing village, located in the valley, 2 km from the road to Batrina-Pleternica.

From a small half devastated village without tomorrow we decided to create a touristic destination. We want to return to the life of our ancestors without the rings and noise of the cell phones or other electronic wonders. -says dr.Tucić sitting on the porch of «Tucina Kuća», the house of his ancestors.
So the doctor gathered enthusiasts, found a support in the county and municipal touristic board, founded the ethno association and in a little time brought the first investors in the village where they bought 12 lots of terrain, on which houses are to be built in old slavonian style. In the beginning the inhabitants even donated their abbandoned lots just to revitalize the place.

-We want to create the rural way of life, and it means idylliac, pastoral peace, that everything is cleared, arranged, neat.
Not trashy kich, but in the old fashion neat. - says dr.Tucić.

He metioned that the local petrol company «INA» granted them 50 thousand kuna (around 7000 €), which will serve to arrange the facades of the remaining houses, the center of the village, to reconstruct old slavonian households to be built of bricks, beams, roof tiles in ancient style. We have, he said, a complete cart wright workshop, carpenter workshop, shoemaker workshop, weving tables...

They will candidate for the EU fundings

Mr. Marijan Štefanac, manager of the Crafts Association of the Brod-Posavina county for the development of european integration: - For this project some funds have been granted from the County council, and i hope they could candidate for fundings from the EU.
Petar Huljić, principal of the county touristic office: The Vision is to return life in the abbandoned villages. I expect this to also apply to other villages. (Ž.M.)

The tourists thrilled with the ambience
That dr. Tucić is on the right path was seen this weekend when 32 tourists from Zagreb was excited and pleasantly surprised by the welcome and the ambience.
-It made us cry, when 2 km from here horses with carriage pick us up and drove us over this peaceful hills to the village. We couldn't imagine something like this, not even in our dreams - said Iva, Nives, Sonja...and as they were there, they couldn't leave. 'Cause in old slavonian tradition, there is no goodbye until everything has been consumed (food and drinks). There was plenty of everything that weekend.

From a half devastated village we decided to make a touristic destination. We want to return to the life of our grandfathers, says dr. Tucić

STARA KAPELA: - Not even the oldest inhabitants do not remember such a crowd, laughter, music, neigh of horses and the noise of the carriages which brought the past weekend, the first group of tourists in their village.

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