Resava Cave opened for investors - municipality of Despotovac offered 3 attractive locations for construction of congress and wellness center

- The municipality of Despotovac plans to attract investors to have over EUR 6m worth of hotel complex built in the area surrounding the Resava Cave, one of the most visited and the most beautiful caves in our country. The plan is that the hotel at up to 7,000 square meters has three to four stars, 200 beds, a big congress room, a swimming pool, saunas, a gym, sports fields, and accompanying contents. The future congress and wellness center will be unique in central and east Serbia, and it should look similar to Sotelia hotel in Slovenia - Darko Petrović, the Director of the Directorate Office for Development of Despotovac, told eKapija.

The first steps towards realization of the investment have already been taken, and the municipality has offered potential investors three locations for construction of accommodation capacities at total surface of over 2.9 ha at the price of EUR 1,000 per are.

In addition to accommodation capacities, cultural and recreation facilities, stationary traffic and greenery should also be built in these locations.

- The plan of detailed regulation for the Resava Cave anticipates construction of commercial accommodation capacities in three locations, as well as the possibility of realization of a complex hotel center. Therefore, the investor himself will get to decide if he wants to have the accommodation capacities built in one location only and accompanying contents in the other two or prefers to have smaller accommodation facilities built in each location. The locations are equipped with public utility infrastructure for the current needs of the existing facilities, as well as with power supply and plumbing and sewerage infrastructure. There are also access roads to all locations - Petrović explained.

The hotel complex will have minimum four international stars. All accommodation capacities are planned to have cellar, ground floor and first floor, maximum number of accommodation units in the first location is 125, while maximum number of units in the second and the third location amounts to 50.

The future complex is also planned to comprise an exhibition gallery, a playroom for kids, an Internet cafe, a congress room for minimum 250 participants, indoor recreational contents (gym, swimming pool, sauna, multifunctional halls for aerobic, fitness, table tennis, etc.). Also, the guests will be able to enjoy outdoor recreation since the construction of tennis and multifunctional fields and mini golf course is in the pipeline.

As Petrović explained, the investor will be obliged to finish all the necessary planning, town planning, land utilization-technical and technical documentation for construction of accommodation capacities within 16 months from the day the land acquisition contract is signed, as well as to get the building permit from the authorized organs.

The investor will also be obliged to start the construction of accommodation capacities within three months from the day the building permit is issued, as well as to finish the construction and get the use permit from the authorized organs within three years from the day the building permit is granted.

The Resava Cave is situated 20 km away from Despotovac, in limestone hill called Babina Glava. Although it was opened for tourists in 1972 and is annually visited by over 40,000 people, the Resava Cave has not even one decent catering facility.

Restaurant Toplica is closed for several years now, while the only things that tourists can do in the existing catering facility at about 70 square meters is drink a coffee, go to the toilet or buy an ice-cream.

The Resava Cave

It is 4.5 km long. Total of 2,830 meters have been thoroughly researched, 800 meters of which are open for visitors. It is one of the oldest researched caves in our country. The cave is about 80m years old, while the age of cave decorations is estimated at 45m years. The temperature is constant and amounts to 7°C, while air humidity ranges between 80 and 100%. The cave's interior is rich with numerous and various halls, canals, galleries, pillars, stalactites, stalagmites, draperies and petrified waterfalls. Thanks to a great many decorations of various colors, the Resava Cave got the epithet of the Resava beauty.

The cave decorations can also be found at the very entrance to the cave, which is 485 meters above the sea level. The color of these coral-like calcite deposits depends on the minerals through which the water passes and it can be red, yellow or white. The most dominant is red color (ferric oxides), followed by white (crystal calcium) and yellow color (clay impurities).